World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 25
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1 word came to me, saying, ", set your toward , and against them. Tell , 'Hear the word of ! says, "Because you said, 'Aha!' against my sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into , therefore, behold, I will you to the children of the east for a possession. They will set their encampments in you and make their dwellings in you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk. I will make a stable for camels and a for flocks. Then you will know that I am ." For says: "Because you have clapped your hands, stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the contempt of your against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will you for a plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to out of the countries. I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am ." "' says: "Because and say, 'Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,' therefore, behold, I will open the side of from the cities, from his cities which are on its frontiers, the of the country, , , and , to the children of the east, to go against ; and I will give them for a possession, that may not be remembered among the nations. I will execute judgments on . Then they will know that I am ." "' says: "Because has dealt against the house of Judah by taking , and has greatly offended, and taken on them," therefore says, "I will stretch out my hand on , and will man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from . They will fall even to . I will lay my on by the hand of my people Israel. They will do in according to my and according to my . Then they will know my ," . "' says: "Because the have taken , and have taken with contempt of to destroy with perpetual hostility," therefore says, "Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the , and I will the , and destroy of the sea coast. I will execute great on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am , when I lay my on them."'"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Ezekiel