World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Isaiah 43
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But now who created you, , and he who formed you, Israel, says: "Don't be afraid, for I have you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the , you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you. For I am your , the One of Israel, your . I have given as your , and in your place. Since you have been precious and in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life. Don't be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will tell the north, 'Give them up!' and tell the south, 'Don't hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my , whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.'" Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their , that they may be , or let them hear, and say, "That is true." "You are ," , "With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no formed, neither will there be after me. I myself am . Besides me, there is no . I have declared, I have , and I have shown, and there was no strange among you. Therefore you are ", , "and I am . Yes, since the day was, I am he. There is no one who can out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?" , your , the One of Israel says: "For your sake, I have sent to , and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the , in the ships of their rejoicing. I am , your One, the Creator of Israel, your King." , who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters, who brings out the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched like a wick) says: "Don't remember the former things, and don't consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don't you know it? I will even make a way in , and rivers in . The animals of the field, the jackals and the ostriches, shall me, because I give water in and rivers in , to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my . Yet you have not called on me, ; but you have been weary of me, Israel. You have not brought me any of your sheep for burnt offerings, neither have you me with your . I have not burdened you with , nor wearied you with . You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with your , but you have burdened me with your . You have wearied me with your . I, even I, am he who blots out your for my own sake; and I will not remember your . Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Declare your case, that you may be . Your first , and your teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I will profane the princes of ; and I will make , and Israel an insult."
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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 Isaiah