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I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to withstand it, and no one could rescue from its power; it did as it pleased and became strong.(A)

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16 But he who comes against him shall take the actions he pleases, and no one shall withstand him. He shall take a position in the beautiful land, and all of it shall be in his power.(A)

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36 “The king shall act as he pleases. He shall exalt himself and consider himself greater than any god and shall speak horrendous things against the God of gods. He shall prosper until the period of wrath is completed, for what is determined shall be done.(A)

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I saw it approaching the ram. It was enraged against it and struck the ram, breaking its two horns. The ram did not have power to withstand it; it threw the ram down to the ground and trampled upon it, and there was no one who could rescue the ram from its power.(A)

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And among the nations the remnant of Jacob,
    surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
    like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
    and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver.(A)

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“Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a warrior king shall arise who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases.(A)

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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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Footnotes

  1. 7.5 Or ribs

30 That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed.(A)

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19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. He killed those he wanted to kill, kept alive those he wanted to keep alive, honored those he wanted to honor, and degraded those he wanted to degrade.(A)

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21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide,

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Judgment on Babylon

50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the prophet Jeremiah:(A)

Declare among the nations and proclaim;
    set up a banner and proclaim;
    do not conceal it, say:
“Babylon is taken;
    Bel is put to shame;
    Merodach is dismayed.
Her images are put to shame;
    her idols are dismayed.”(B)

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.(C)

In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the Lord their God.(D) They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold.(E) All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, “We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the true pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.”(F)

Flee from Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like male goats leading the flock.(G) 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.(H) 10 Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, says the Lord.

11 Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass
    and neigh like stallions,(I)
12 your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
She shall be the last of the nations,
    a wilderness, dry land, and a desert.(J)
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord, she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled
    and hiss because of all her wounds.(K)
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.(L)
15 Raise a shout against her from all sides,
    “She has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    her walls are thrown down.”
For this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    do to her as she has done.(M)
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower
    and the wielder of the sickle in time of harvest;
because of the destroying sword,
    all of them shall return to their own people,
    and all of them shall flee to their own land.(N)

17 Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured it, and now at the end King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has gnawed its bones.(O) 18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 I will restore Israel to its pasture, and it shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead its hunger shall be satisfied.(P) 20 In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared.(Q)

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.(R)
22 The noise of battle is in the land
    and great destruction!(S)
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become
    a horror among the nations!(T)
24 I set a snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon,
    but you did not know it;
you were discovered and seized
    because you challenged the Lord.(U)
25 The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a task
    in the land of the Chaldeans.(V)
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.(W)
27 Kill all her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Alas for them, their day has come,
    the time of their punishment!(X)

28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon are coming to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.(Y)

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.(Z) 30 Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord.(AA)

31 I am against you, O arrogant one,
    says the Lord God of hosts,
for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.(AB)
32 The arrogant one shall stumble and fall,
    with no one to raise him up,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour everything around him.(AC)

33 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and so also are the people of Judah; all their captors have held them fast and refuse to let them go.(AD) 34 Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.(AE)

35 A sword against the Chaldeans, says the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon
    and against her officials and her sages!(AF)
36 A sword against the diviners,
    so that they may become fools!
A sword against her warriors,
    so that they may be dismayed!(AG)
37 A sword against her[d] horses and against her[e] chariots
    and against all the foreign troops in her midst,
    so that they may become women!
A sword against her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!(AH)
38 A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
For it is a land of images,
    and they go mad over idols.(AI)

39 Therefore wild animals shall live with hyenas in Babylon,[f] and ostriches shall inhabit her; she shall never again be peopled or inhabited for all generations.(AJ) 40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says the Lord, so no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in her.(AK)

41 Look, a people is coming from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.(AL)
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!(AM)

43 The king of Babylon heard news of them,
    and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.(AN)

44 Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan to a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase them away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose.[g] For who is like me? Who can summon me? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?(AO) 45 Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely the fold shall be appalled at their fate. 46 At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and a cry shall be heard among the nations.(AP)

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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
  4. 50.37 Syr: Heb his
  5. 50.37 Syr: Heb his
  6. 50.39 Heb lacks in Babylon
  7. 50.44 Meaning of Heb uncertain

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)
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
    besides me there is no god.
    I arm you, though you do not know me,(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 45.2 Q ms Gk: MT the swellings

13 For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples
    and have plundered their treasures;
    like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.(A)
14 My hand has found, like a nest,
    the wealth of the peoples,
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
    so I have gathered all the earth,
and there was none that moved a wing
    or opened its mouth or chirped.”(B)

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22 Mark this, then, you who forget God,
    or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.(A)

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or like a lion they will tear me apart;
    they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.(A)

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although you know that I am not guilty,
    and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?(A)

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17 A firstborn[a] bull—majesty is his!
    His horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he gores the peoples
    all together to the ends of the earth;
such are the myriads of Ephraim,
    such the thousands of Manasseh.”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 33.17 Q ms Gk Syr Vg: MT His firstborn