Isaiah 45:1
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Cyrus, God’s Instrument
45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and to strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:(A)
Jeremiah 51:20-24
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Israel the Creator’s Instrument
20 You are my war club, my weapon of battle:
with you I smash nations;
with you I destroy kingdoms;(A)
21 with you I smash the horse and its rider;
with you I smash the chariot and the charioteer;
22 with you I smash man and woman;
with you I smash the old man and the boy;
with you I smash the young man and the girl;(B)
23 with you I smash shepherds and their flocks;
with you I smash farmers and their teams;
with you I smash governors and deputies.
The Doom of Babylon
24 I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the wrong that they have done in Zion, says the Lord.(C)
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Isaiah 44:28
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28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”(A)
Isaiah 42:6
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6 I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,[a]
a light to the nations,(A)
Footnotes
- 42.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Psalm 73:23
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23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
Isaiah 41:13
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13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,
I will help you.”(A)
Jeremiah 51:11
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11 Sharpen the arrows!
Fill the quivers!
The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for his temple.(A)
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Jeremiah 50:35
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35 A sword against the Chaldeans, says the Lord,
and against the inhabitants of Babylon
and against her officials and her sages!(A)
Isaiah 45:5
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5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,(A)
Ezra 1:1
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End of the Babylonian Captivity
1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also in writing, saying:(A)
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Nahum 2:6
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6 The river gates are opened;
the palace trembles.
Isaiah 13:3
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3 I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones,
to execute my anger.[a](A)
Footnotes
- 13.3 Gk: Heb for my anger
Job 12:21
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21 He pours contempt on princes
and looses the belt of the strong.(A)
Daniel 5:6
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6 Then the king’s face turned pale, and his thoughts terrified him. His limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.(A)
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Ezekiel 30:21-24
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21 Mortal, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword.(A) 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.(B) 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.(C) 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him with the groans of one mortally wounded.(D)
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Jeremiah 27:6
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6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him even the wild animals of the field to serve him.(A)
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Isaiah 41:2
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2 Who has roused a victor from the east,
summoned him to his service?
He delivers up nations to him
and tramples kings under foot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.(A)
1 Kings 19:15
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15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.(A)
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Daniel 8:3
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3 I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the gate.[a] It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second.(A)
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- 8.3 Or river
Daniel 7:5
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5 Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusks[a] in its mouth among its teeth, and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!”
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- 7.5 Or ribs
Daniel 5:28-30
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28 peres:[a] your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made concerning him that he should rank third in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed.(A)
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- 5.28 The singular of Parsin
Jeremiah 50:3
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3 For out of the north a nation has come up against her; it shall make her land a desolation, and no one shall live in it; both humans and animals shall flee away.(A)
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Isaiah 41:25
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25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.[a]
He shall trample[b] on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.