World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Isaiah 66
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says: " is my , and the earth is . What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest? For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be," : "but I will look to this man, even to he who is and of a contrite , and who trembles at my word. He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who , as he who breaks a dog's neck; he who offers an , as he who offers pig's ; he who burns , as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their delights in their . I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them, because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn't listen, but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn't delight." Hear word, you who tremble at his word: "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name's sake, have said, 'Let be glorified, that we may see your joy;' but it is those who shall be disappointed. A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from , a voice of that repays his what they deserve. "Before she travailed, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she a son. Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as travailed, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be ?" . "Shall I who cause to give birth shut the ?" says your . "Rejoice with , and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied at the comforting breasts; that you may drink deeply, and be delighted with the abundance of her ." For says, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the of the nations like an overflowing stream, and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in ." You will see it, and shall rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass. hand will be known among his servants; and he will have against his . For, behold, will come with , and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; to give his with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of . For will execute by and by his on ; and those slain by will be many. "Those who themselves and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the middle, eating pig's meat, things, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together," . "For I know their works and their . The time comes that I will gather all nations and , and they will come, and will see my . "I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape of them to the nations, to , Pul, and , who draw the bow, to Tubal and , to far-away islands, who have not heard my fame, nor have seen my ; and they shall declare my among the nations. They shall bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an to , on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to my mountain , , as the bring their in a clean into house. Of them I will also select priests and ," . "For as the new and the new earth, which I will make, shall before me," , "so and your name shall . It shall happen that from one to another, and from one to another, will come to before me," . "They will go out, and look at bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not , nor will their be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."
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 Isaiah