World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Isaiah 44
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Yet listen now, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. This is what who made you, and formed you from the , who will help you says: "Don't be afraid, my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour on your , and my on ; and they will spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses. One will say, 'I am .' Another will be called by the name of ; and another will write with his hand 'to ,' and the name of Israel." This is what , the King of Israel, and his , of Armies, says: "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no . Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen. Don't fear, neither be afraid. Haven't I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are . Is there a besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don't know any other ." Everyone who makes a is . The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own don't see, nor know, that they may be disappointed. Who has fashioned a , or molds an that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be together. The blacksmith takes an ax, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. He marks it out with compasses, and shapes it like the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to reside in a house. He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest. He plants a cypress tree, and the nourishes it. Then it will be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he burns it and bakes bread. Yes, he makes a and worships it; he makes it a , and falls down to it. 16He burns part of it in the . With part of it, he eats meat. He roasts a roast and is satisfied. Yes, he warms himself and says, "Aha! I am warm. I have seen the ." The rest of it he makes into a , even his engraved . He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, " me, for you are my !" They don't know, neither do they consider, for he has shut their eyes, that they can't see, and their , that they can't understand. No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor to say, "I have burned part of it in the . Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an ? Shall I to a tree trunk?" He feeds on . A deceived has turned him aside; and he can't his , nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my ?" Remember these things, and Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your , and, as a cloud, your . Return to me, for I have you. Sing, you , for has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for has , and will himself in Israel. , your , and he who formed you from the says: "I am , who makes all things; who alone stretches out ; who spreads out the earth by myself; who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes mad; who turns men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish; who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the of his ; who says of , 'She will be inhabited;' and of the cities of Judah, 'They will be built,' and 'I will raise up its waste places;' who says to the deep, 'Be dry,' and 'I will dry up your rivers,' who says of , 'He is , and shall perform all my pleasure,' even saying of , 'She will be built;' and of , 'Your foundation will be laid.'"
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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