King James Version · Babylon and the exile
Isaiah 65
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I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own ; A people that provoketh me to continually to ; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth upon of brick; Which among the , and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s , and broth of things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a that burneth all the day. Behold, before me: I will not keep silence, but will , even into their , Your , and the of your fathers together, saith , which have upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their . Thus saith , As the is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a out of , and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall it, and my servants shall there. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. But ye are they that forsake , that forget my mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink unto that number. Therefore will I number you to , and ye shall all to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. Therefore thus saith , Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be : Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of , but ye shall cry for sorrow of , and shall howl for vexation of . And ye shall leave your name for unto my chosen: for shall thee, and call his servants by another name: That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall himself in the of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall by the of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For, behold, I create new and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into . But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in , and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall an hundred years old; but the being an hundred years old shall be . And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in , nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the of the of , and their with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and shall be ’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my mountain, saith .
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. 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 Isaiah