37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt(A) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,(B)
    a place where no one lives.(C)

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With a mighty voice he shouted:

“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’[a](A)
    She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,(B)
    a haunt for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:2 Isaiah 21:9

I will summon(A) all the peoples of the north(B) and my servant(C) Nebuchadnezzar(D) king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a](E) them and make them an object of horror and scorn,(F) and an everlasting ruin.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 25:9 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

16 Their land will be an object of horror(A)
    and of lasting scorn;(B)
all who pass by will be appalled(C)
    and will shake their heads.(D)

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The Finality of Babylon’s Doom

21 Then a mighty angel(A) picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea,(B) and said:

“With such violence
    the great city(C) of Babylon will be thrown down,
    never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,
    will never be heard in you again.(D)
No worker of any trade
    will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
    will never be heard in you again.(E)
23 The light of a lamp
    will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
    will never be heard in you again.(F)
Your merchants were the world’s important people.(G)
    By your magic spell(H) all the nations were led astray.

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15 This is the city of revelry(A)
    that lived in safety.(B)
She said to herself,
    “I am the one! And there is none besides me.”(C)
What a ruin she has become,
    a lair for wild beasts!(D)
All who pass by her scoff(E)
    and shake their fists.(F)

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16 You have observed the statutes of Omri(A)
    and all the practices of Ahab’s(B) house;
    you have followed their traditions.(C)
Therefore I will give you over to ruin(D)
    and your people to derision;
    you will bear the scorn(E) of the nations.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 6:16 Septuagint; Hebrew scorn due my people

15 All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;(A)
they scoff(B) and shake their heads(C)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:(D)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,(E)
    the joy of the whole earth?”(F)

16 All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;(G)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(H)
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.(I)
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.”(J)

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29 The land trembles(A) and writhes,
    for the Lord’s purposes(B) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste(C) the land of Babylon
    so that no one will live there.(D)

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25 “I am against(A) you, you destroying mountain,
    you who destroy the whole earth,”(B)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand(C) against you,
    roll you off the cliffs,
    and make you a burned-out mountain.(D)
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate(E) forever,”
declares the Lord.

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38 A drought on[a] her waters!(A)
    They will dry(B) up.
For it is a land of idols,(C)
    idols that will go mad with terror.

39 “So desert creatures(D) and hyenas will live there,
    and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
    or lived in from generation to generation.(E)
40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah(F)
    along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
    no people will dwell in it.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 50:38 Or A sword against

23 How broken and shattered
    is the hammer(A) of the whole earth!(B)
How desolate(C) is Babylon
    among the nations!
24 I set a trap(D) for you, Babylon,
    and you were caught before you knew it;
you were found and captured(E)
    because you opposed(F) the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
    and brought out the weapons(G) of his wrath,
for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do
    in the land of the Babylonians.(H)
26 Come against her from afar.(I)
    Break open her granaries;
    pile her up like heaps of grain.(J)
Completely destroy(K) her
    and leave her no remnant.

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12 your mother will be greatly ashamed;
    she who gave you birth will be disgraced.(A)
She will be the least of the nations—
    a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.(B)
13 Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited
    but will be completely desolate.(C)
All who pass Babylon will be appalled;(D)
    they will scoff(E) because of all her wounds.(F)

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18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent(A) to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse[a](B) and an object of horror,(C) of scorn(D) and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 29:18 That is, their names will be used in cursing (see verse 22); or, others will see that they are cursed.

18 Jerusalem(A) and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin(B) and an object of horror and scorn,(C) a curse[a](D)—as they are today;(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 25:18 That is, their names to be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, to be seen by others as cursed

12 “But when the seventy years(A) are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon(B) and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[a] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate(C) forever.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 25:12 Or Chaldeans

I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;(A) all who pass by will be appalled(B) and will scoff because of all its wounds.(C)

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For the Lord has a day(A) of vengeance,(B)
    a year of retribution,(C) to uphold Zion’s cause.
Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
    her dust into burning sulfur;(D)
    her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched(E) night or day;
    its smoke will rise forever.(F)
From generation to generation(G) it will lie desolate;(H)
    no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[a](I) and screech owl[b] will possess it;
    the great owl[c] and the raven(J) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom(K)
    the measuring line of chaos(L)
    and the plumb line(M) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
    all her princes(N) will vanish(O) away.
13 Thorns(P) will overrun her citadels,
    nettles and brambles her strongholds.(Q)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(R)
    a home for owls.(S)
14 Desert creatures(T) will meet with hyenas,(U)
    and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(V) will also lie down
    and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
    she will hatch them, and care for her young
    under the shadow of her wings;(W)
there also the falcons(X) will gather,
    each with its mate.

16 Look in the scroll(Y) of the Lord and read:

None of these will be missing,(Z)
    not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth(AA) that has given the order,(AB)
    and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;(AC)
    his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
    and dwell there from generation to generation.(AD)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  3. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.

23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(A)
    and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(B)
    declares the Lord Almighty.(C)

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19 Babylon,(A) the jewel of kingdoms,(B)
    the pride and glory(C) of the Babylonians,[a]
will be overthrown(D) by God
    like Sodom and Gomorrah.(E)
20 She will never be inhabited(F)
    or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads(G) will pitch their tents,
    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures(H) will lie there,
    jackals(I) will fill her houses;
there the owls(J) will dwell,
    and there the wild goats(K) will leap about.
22 Hyenas(L) will inhabit her strongholds,(M)
    jackals(N) her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,(O)
    and her days will not be prolonged.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 13:19 Or Chaldeans

Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror(A) and scorn,(B) as you can see with your own eyes.

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