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For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the land of the north, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.(A)

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27 Raise a standard in the land;
    blow the trumpet among the nations;
prepare the nations for war against her;
    summon against her the kingdoms,
    Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
appoint a marshal against her;
    bring up horses like bristling locusts.(A)
28 Prepare the nations for war against her,
    the kings of the Medes, with their governors and deputies,
    and every land under their dominion.

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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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51 Thus says the Lord:
I am going to stir up a destructive wind[a]
    against Babylon
    and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai,[b](A)
and I will send winnowers to Babylon,
    and they shall winnow her.
They shall empty her land
    when they come against her from every side
    on the day of trouble.(B)
Let not the archer bend his bow,
    and let him not array himself in his coat of mail.
Do not spare her young men;
    utterly destroy her entire army.(C)
They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans
    and wounded in her streets.

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Footnotes

  1. 51.1 Or stir up the spirit of a destroyer
  2. 51.1 That is, Chaldea

41 Look, a people is coming from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.(A)
42 They wield bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring sea;
    they ride upon horses,
set in array as a warrior for battle,
    against you, O daughter Babylon!(B)

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29 Summon archers against Babylon, all who bend the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her—for she has arrogantly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.(A)

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26 Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly;
    let nothing be left of her.(A)

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21 Go up to the land of Merathaim;[a]
    go up against her,
and attack the inhabitants of Pekod[b]
    and utterly destroy the last of them,[c]
            says the Lord;
    do all that I have commanded you.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 50.21 Or of Double Rebellion
  2. 50.21 Or of Punishment
  3. 50.21 Tg: Heb destroy after them

14 Take up your positions around Babylon,
    all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her; spare no arrows,
    for she has sinned against the Lord.(A)

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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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14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn against you.(A)

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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)
I will go before you
    and level the mountains;[a]
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron;(B)
I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.(C)
For the sake of my servant Jacob
    and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name;
    I give you a title, though you do not know me.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 45.2 Q ms Gk: MT the swellings

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)

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Footnotes

  1. 41.25 Compare Q ms Gk: MT he shall call on my name
  2. 41.25 Cn: Heb come

A stern vision is told to me;
    the betrayer betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam;
    lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.(A)

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17 See, I am stirring up the Medes against them,
    who have no regard for silver
    and do not delight in gold.(A)
18 Their bows will slaughter the young men;
    they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
    their eyes will not pity children.(B)

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On a bare hill raise a signal;
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for them to enter
    the gates of the nobles.(A)
I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
    have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones,
    to execute my anger.[a](B)

Listen, a tumult on the mountains
    as of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar of kingdoms,
    of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering
    an army for battle.(C)
They come from a distant land,
    from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
    to destroy the whole earth.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 13.3 Gk: Heb for my anger

End of the Babylonian Captivity

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)

“Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.(B)

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22 From the blood of the slain,
    from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
    nor the sword of Saul return empty.(A)

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