Isaiah 48:14
New Living Translation
14 Have any of your idols ever told you this?
Come, all of you, and listen:
The Lord has chosen Cyrus as his ally.
He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon
and to destroy the Babylonian[a] armies.
Footnotes
- 48:14 Or Chaldean.
Isaiah 43:9
New Living Translation
9 Gather the nations together!
Assemble the peoples of the world!
Which of their idols has ever foretold such things?
Which can predict what will happen tomorrow?
Where are the witnesses of such predictions?
Who can verify that they spoke the truth?
Jeremiah 50:21-29
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Judgment on Babylon
21 “Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim
and against the people of Pekod.
Pursue, kill, and completely destroy[a] them,
as I have commanded you,” says the Lord.
22 “Let the battle cry be heard in the land,
a shout of great destruction.
23 Babylon, the mightiest hammer in all the earth,
lies broken and shattered.
Babylon is desolate among the nations!
24 Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you.
You are caught, for you have fought against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his armory
and brought out weapons to vent his fury.
The terror that falls upon the Babylonians
will be the work of the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
26 Yes, come against her from distant lands.
Break open her granaries.
Crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble.
Destroy her completely, and leave nothing!
27 Destroy even her young bulls—
it will be terrible for them, too!
Slaughter them all!
For Babylon’s day of reckoning has come.
28 Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon,
as they tell in Jerusalem
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance
against those who destroyed his Temple.
29 “Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon.
Surround the city so none can escape.
Do to her as she has done to others,
for she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
Footnotes
- 50:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
Isaiah 46:10-11
New Living Translation
10 Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.
11 I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—
a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding.
I have said what I would do,
and I will do it.
Isaiah 45:20-21
New Living Translation
20 “Gather together and come,
you fugitives from surrounding nations.
What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols
and pray to gods that cannot save!
21 Consult together, argue your case.
Get together and decide what to say.
Who made these things known so long ago?
What idol ever told you they would happen?
Was it not I, the Lord?
For there is no other God but me,
a righteous God and Savior.
There is none but me.
Isaiah 13:17-18
New Living Translation
17 “Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon.
They cannot be tempted by silver
or bribed with gold.
18 The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows.
They will have no mercy on helpless babies
and will show no compassion for children.”
Isaiah 13:4-5
New Living Translation
4 Hear the noise on the mountains!
Listen, as the vast armies march!
It is the noise and shouting of many nations.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has called this army together.
5 They come from distant countries,
from beyond the farthest horizons.
They are the Lord’s weapons to carry out his anger.
With them he will destroy the whole land.
Mark 10:21
New Living Translation
21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
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Jeremiah 51:20-24
New Living Translation
Babylon’s Great Punishment
20 “You[a] are my battle-ax and sword,”
says the Lord.
“With you I will shatter nations
and destroy many kingdoms.
21 With you I will shatter armies—
destroying the horse and rider,
the chariot and charioteer.
22 With you I will shatter men and women,
old people and children,
young men and young women.
23 With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,
farmers and oxen,
captains and officers.
24 “I will repay Babylon
and the people of Babylonia[b]
for all the wrong they have done
to my people in Jerusalem,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 44:28-45:3
New Living Translation
28 When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’
he will certainly do as I say.
He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’;
he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’”
Cyrus, the Lord’s Chosen One
45 This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one,
whose right hand he will empower.
Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear.
Their fortress gates will be opened,
never to shut again.
2 This is what the Lord says:
“I will go before you, Cyrus,
and level the mountains.[a]
I will smash down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
3 And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—
secret riches.
I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord,
the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
Footnotes
- 45:2 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads the swellings.
Isaiah 44:7
New Living Translation
7 Who is like me?
Let him step forward and prove to you his power.
Let him do as I have done since ancient times
when I established a people and explained its future.
Isaiah 41:22
New Living Translation
22 “Let them try to tell us what happened long ago
so that we may consider the evidence.
Or let them tell us what the future holds,
so we can know what’s going to happen.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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