Add parallel Print Page Options

Babylon Will Fall

The Lord said:

47 (A) City of Babylon,
You are delicate
    and untouched,
    but that will change.
Surrender your royal power
    and sit in the dirt.
Start grinding grain!
    Take off your veil.
Strip off your fancy clothes
    and wade across rivers.[a]
You will suffer the shame
    of going naked,
because I will take revenge,
    and no one can escape.[b]
I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the holy God of Israel.
    I am their Savior.

Babylon, be silent!
    Sit in the dark.
No longer will nations
    accept you as their queen.
I was angry with my people.
So I let you take their land
    and bring disgrace on them.
You showed them no mercy,
but were especially cruel
    to those who were old.
You thought that you
    would be queen forever.
You didn't care what you did;
it never entered your mind
    that you might get caught.

(B) You think that you alone
    are all-powerful,
that you won't be a widow
    or lose your children.
All you care about is pleasure,
    but listen to what I say.
Your magic powers and charms
    will suddenly fail,
then you will be a widow
    and lose your children.

10 You hid behind evil
like a shield and said,
    “No one can see me!”
You were fooled by your wisdom
    and your knowledge;
you felt sure that you alone
    were in full control.
11 But without warning,
    disaster will strike—
and your magic charms
    won't help at all.

12 Keep using your magic powers
and your charms
    as you have always done.
Maybe—just maybe—
    you will frighten somebody!
13 You have worn yourself out,
    asking for advice
from those who study the stars
and tell the future
    month after month.
Go ask them how to be saved
    from what will happen.
14 People who trust the stars
are as helpless as straw
    in a flaming fire.
No one can even keep warm,[c]
sitting by a fire
    that feeds only on straw.
15 These are the fortunetellers
you have done business with
    all of your life.
But they don't know
where they are going,
    and they can't save you.

The Lord Corrects His People

48 People of Israel,
you come from Jacob's family
    and the tribe[d] of Judah.
You claim to worship me,
the Lord God of Israel,
    but you are lying.
You call Jerusalem your home
    and say you depend on me,
the Lord All-Powerful,
    the God of Israel.

Long ago I announced
    what was going to be,
then without warning,
    I made it happen.
I knew you were stubborn
    and hardheaded.
And I told you these things,
so that when they happened
    you would not say,
“The idols we worship did this.”

You heard what I said,
and you have seen it happen.
    Now admit it's true!
I will show you secrets
    you have never known.
Today I am doing something new,
something you cannot say
    you have heard before.
You have never been willing
    to listen to what I say;
from the moment of your birth,
    I knew you would rebel.

The Lord Warns Israel

I, the Lord, am true to myself;
I will be praised for not punishing
    and destroying you.
10 I tested you in hard times
just as silver is refined
    in a heated furnace.[e]
11 I did this because of who I am.
I refuse to be dishonored[f]
    or share my praise
    with any other god.

12 (C) Israel, my chosen people,
    listen to me.
I alone am the Lord,
    the first and the last.
13 With my own hand
I created the earth
    and stretched out the sky.
They obey my every command.

The Lord Speaks to the Nations

14 Gather around me, all of you!
    Listen to what I say.
Did any of your idols
    predict this would happen?
Did they say that my friend[g]
would do what I want done
    to Babylonia?[h]
15 I was the one who chose him.
I have brought him this far,
    and he will be successful.
16 Come closer and listen!
I have never kept secret
    the things I have said,
and I was here
    before time began.

It Is Best To Obey the Lord

By the power of his Spirit
the Lord God has sent me
17     with this message:
People of Israel,
I am the holy Lord God,
    the one who rescues you.
For your own good,
I teach you, and I lead you
    along the right path.
18 How I wish that you
    had obeyed my commands!
Your success and good fortune
would then have overflowed
    like a flooding river.
19 Your nation would be blessed
    with more people
than there are grains of sand
    along the seashore.
And I would never have let
    your country be destroyed.

20 (D) Now leave Babylon!
    Celebrate as you go.
Be happy and shout
    for everyone to hear,
“The Lord has rescued
    his servant Israel!
21 He led us through the desert
and made water flow from a rock
    to satisfy our thirst.
22 (E) But the Lord has promised
that none who are evil
    will live in peace.”

The Work of the Lord's Servant

49 (F) Everyone, listen,
even you foreign nations
    across the sea.
The Lord chose me
and gave me a name
    before I was born.
(G) He made my words pierce
like a sharp sword
    or a pointed arrow;
he kept me safely hidden
    in the palm of his hand.
The Lord said to me,
    “Israel, you are my servant;
and because of you
    I will be highly honored.”

I said to myself,
“I'm completely worn out;
    my time has been wasted.
But I did it for the Lord God,
    and he will reward me.”

Even before I was born,
    the Lord God chose me
to serve him and to lead back
    the people of Israel.
So the Lord has honored me
    and made me strong.

(H) Now the Lord says to me,
“It isn't enough for you
    to be merely my servant.
You must do more than lead back
survivors from the tribes
    of Israel.
I have placed you here as a light
    for other nations;
you must take my saving power
    to everyone on earth.”

The Lord Will Rescue His People

Israel, I am the holy Lord God,
    the one who rescues you.
You are slaves of rulers
and of a nation
    who despises you.[i]
Now this is what I promise:
Kings and rulers will honor you
    by kneeling at your feet.
You can trust me! I am your Lord,
the holy God of Israel,
    and you are my chosen ones.

The Lord Will Lead His People Home

(I) This is what the Lord says:
    I will answer your prayers
because I have set a time
when I will help
    by coming to save you.
I have chosen you
to take my promise of hope
    to other nations.[j]
You will rebuild the country
    from its ruins,
then people will come
    and settle there.
You will set prisoners free
from dark dungeons
    to see the light of day.

On their way home,
they will find plenty to eat,
    even on barren hills.
10 (J) They won't go hungry
    or get thirsty;
they won't be bothered
by the scorching sun
    or hot desert winds.
I will be merciful
while leading them along
    to streams of water.
11 I will level the mountains
    and make roads.
12 Then my people will return
    from distant lands
in the north and the west
    and from the city of Syene.[k]

The Lord's Mercy

13 Tell the heavens and the earth
    to celebrate and sing;
command every mountain
    to join in the song.
The Lord's people have suffered,
but he has shown mercy
    and given them comfort.

14 The people of Zion said,
“The Lord has turned away
    and forgotten us.”

15 The Lord answered,
“Could a mother forget a child
    who nurses at her breast?
Could she fail to love an infant
    who came from her own body?
Even if a mother could forget,
    I will never forget you.
16 A picture of your city
    is drawn on my hand.
You are always in my thoughts!

17 “Your city will be built faster
    than it was destroyed[l]
those who attacked it
    will retreat and leave.
18 Look around! You will see
    your people coming home.
As surely as I live,
    I, the Lord, promise
that your city with its people
will be as lovely as a bride
    wearing her jewelry.”

Jerusalem's Bright Future

19 Jerusalem is now in ruins!
    Nothing is left of the city.
But it will be rebuilt
    and soon overcrowded;
its cruel enemies
    will be gone far away.

20 Jerusalem is a woman
    whose children were born
while she was in deep sorrow[m]
    over the loss of her husband.
Now those children
will come and seek room
    in the crowded city,
21 and Jerusalem will ask,
    “Am I really their mother?
How could I have given birth
when I was still mourning
    in a foreign land?
Who raised these children?
Where have they come from?”

22 (K) The Lord God says:
“I will soon give a signal
    for the nations
to return your sons
and your daughters
    to the arms of Jerusalem.
23 The kings and queens
    of those nations
where they were raised
    will come and bow down.
They will take care of you
just like a slave
    taking care of a child.
Then you will know
    that I am the Lord.
You won't be disappointed
    if you trust me.”

The Lord Is on Our Side

24 Is it possible to rescue victims
from someone strong
    and cruel?[n]
25 But the Lord has promised
    to fight on our side
and to rescue our children
from those strong
    and violent enemies.
26 He will make those cruel people
    dine on their own flesh
and get drunk from drinking
    their own blood.
Then everyone will know
    that the Lord is our Savior;
the powerful God of Israel
    has rescued his people.

Footnotes

  1. 47.2 Strip … rivers: This may be a command to get ready for work that requires wading in the river, or it may be a warning that they are going to be taken away as slaves.
  2. 47.3 escape: Or “oppose me.”
  3. 47.14 keep warm: Or “cook food.”
  4. 48.1 tribe: Hebrew “waters.”
  5. 48.10 furnace: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
  6. 48.11 I refuse to be dishonored: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  7. 48.14 my friend: Probably Cyrus (see 44.28; 45.1).
  8. 48.14 Babylonia: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 14.
  9. 49.7 You … you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  10. 49.8 my … nations: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  11. 49.12 Syene: The Dead Sea Scrolls; the Standard Hebrew Text “Sinim.” This city was located at the first cataract of the Nile near the site of modern-day Aswan.
  12. 49.17 Your city … destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  13. 49.20 whose children … sorrow: These “children” are Jews who were born in foreign countries during the time that Jerusalem was in ruins. Jerusalem probably stands for all the cities in Judah that were destroyed by the Babylonians.
  14. 49.24 cruel: The Dead Sea Scrolls and two ancient translations; the Standard Hebrew Text “good.”

Bible Gateway Recommends