World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 28
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1 word came again to me, saying, ", tell the prince of , ' says: "Because is lifted up, and you have said, 'I am a , I sit in the seat of , in the middle of the seas;' yet you are man, and no , though you set as of a — behold, you are wiser than . There is no secret that is hidden from you. By your and by your understanding you have gotten yourself riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasuries. By your great and by your trading you have increased your riches, and is lifted up because of your riches—" "'therefore says: "Because you have set as of , therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations. They will draw their against the beauty of your . They will defile your brightness. They will bring you down to . You will the of those who are slain in of the seas. Will you yet say before him who kills you, 'I am '? But you are man, and not , in the hand of him who wounds you. You will the of the by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it," .'" 11Moreover word came to me, saying, ", take up a over the king of , and tell him, ' says: "You were the seal of full measure, full of , and perfect in beauty. You were in , the garden of . Every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. They were prepared in the day that you were created. You were who covers. Then I set you up on the mountain of . You have walked up and down in the middle of the stones of . You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with , and you have . Therefore I have cast you as profane out of mountain. I have destroyed you, covering , from the middle of the stones of . was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your by reason of your splendor. I have cast you to the ground. I have laid you before kings, that they may see you. By of your , in the unrighteousness of your commerce, you have profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought out a from the middle of you. It has devoured you. I have turned you to on the earth in the sight of all those who see you. All those who know you among the peoples will be astonished at you. You have become a terror, and you will exist no more."'" 20 word came to me, saying, ", set your toward , and against it, and say, ' says: "Behold, I am against you, . I will be glorified among you. Then they will know that I am , when I have executed judgments in her, and am in her. For I will send pestilence into her, and into her streets. The wounded will fall within her, with on her on every side. Then they will know that I am . "'"There will no longer be a pricking brier to the , nor a hurting of any that are around them that scorned them. Then they will know that I am ." "' says: "When I have gathered the from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am shown as among them in the sight of the nations, then they will in their own land which I gave to my servant . They will in it securely. Yes, they will build houses, plant vineyards, and will securely when I have executed judgments on all those around them who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am their ."'"
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