World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 29
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In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, word came to me, saying, ", set your against king of , and against him and against all . Speak and say, ' says: "Behold, I am against you, king of , the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, 'My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.' I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales. I will bring you up out of the middle of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales. I'll cast you out into , you and all the fish of your rivers. You'll fall on the open field. You won't be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of . "'"All the inhabitants of will know that I am , because they have been a of reed to the . When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke and paralyzed all of their thighs." "'Therefore says: "Behold, I will bring a on you, and will man and animal from you. The land of will be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am . "'"Because he has said, ' is mine, and I have made it,' therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers. I will make the land of an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of . No foot of man will pass through it, nor will any animal foot pass through it. It won't be inhabited for forty years. I will make the land of a desolation in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities among the cities that are laid waste will be a desolation forty years. I will scatter the among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries." "'For says: "At the end of forty years I will gather the from the peoples where they were scattered. I will reverse of , and will cause them to return into the land of , into the land of their birth. There they will be a lowly kingdom. It will be the lowest of the kingdoms. It won't lift itself up above the nations any more. I will diminish them so that they will no longer the nations. It will no longer be the confidence of the , bringing to memory, when they turn to look after them. Then they will know that I am ."'" It came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, word came to me, saying, ", king of caused his army to a great against . Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from , for the that he had against it. Therefore says: 'Behold, I will give the land of to king of . He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of as his payment for which he , because they worked for me,' . "In that day I will cause a to sprout for the , and I will open your among them. Then they will know that I am ."
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