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Jeremiah 51:41
“ How Sheshak will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations! (niv)
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Jeremiah 25:9
I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord,“ and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. (niv)
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Isaiah 47:1-15
“ Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate.Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams.Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”Our Redeemer— the Lord Almighty is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.“ Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms.I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.You said,‘ I am forever— the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.“ Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself,‘ I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.You have trusted in your wickedness and have said,‘ No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself,‘ I am, and there is none besides me.’Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.“ Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by.That is all they are to you— these you have dealt with and labored with since childhood. All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save you. (niv)
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Habakkuk 2:16
You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed! The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. (niv)
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Ezekiel 32:30
“ All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. (niv)
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Daniel 5:1-31
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon,“ Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall.“ May the king live forever!” she said.“ Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale!There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him,“ Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”Then Daniel answered the king,“ You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.“ Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.“ But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this.Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.“ This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin“ Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain,and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two. (niv)
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Isaiah 13:1-14
A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles.I have commanded those I prepared for battle; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath— those who rejoice in my triumph.Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war.They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens— the Lord and the weapons of his wrath— to destroy the whole country.Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.Because of this, all hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear.Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.See, the day of the Lord is coming— a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.I will make people scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir.Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people, they will flee to their native land. (niv)
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Revelation 18:1-24
After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.With a mighty voice he shouted:“‘ Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”Then I heard another voice from heaven say:“‘ Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup.Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts,‘ I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.“ When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:“‘ Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’“ The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore—cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.“ They will say,‘ The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mournand cry out:“‘ Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’“ Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off.When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim,‘ Was there ever a city like this great city?’They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:“‘ Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’“ Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.”Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:“ With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.” (niv)
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Jeremiah 25:12
“ But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord,“ and will make it desolate forever. (niv)
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Jeremiah 50:1-46
This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians:“ Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say,‘ Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.’A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away.“ In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord,“ the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God.They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.“ My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said,‘ We are not guilty, for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.’“ Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock.For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,” declares the Lord.“ Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions,your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nations— a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be appalled; they will scoff because of all her wounds.“ Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the Lord, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land.“ Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:“ I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord,“ search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.“ Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,” declares the Lord.“ Do everything I have commanded you.The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction!How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations!I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the Lord.The Lord has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant.Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the Lord our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple.“ Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord.“ See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,“ for your day has come, the time for you to be punished.The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.”This is what the Lord Almighty says:“ The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go.Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.“ A sword against the Babylonians!” declares the Lord—“ against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men!A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.“ So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,” declares the Lord,“ so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.“ Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Babylon.The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?”Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate.At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations. (niv)