Yesaya 21:9

21:9 Look what’s coming!

A charioteer,

a team of horses.” ¹ 

When questioned, he replies, ² 

“Babylon has fallen, fallen!

All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

Yesaya 45:1

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ³  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ⁴ 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ⁵ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

Yeremia 50:45

50:45 So listen to what I, the Lord, have planned against Babylon,

what I intend to do to the people who inhabit the land of Babylonia. ⁶ 

Their little ones will be dragged off.

I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.

[21:9]  ¹ tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”

[21:9]  ² tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).

[45:1]  ³ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ⁴ sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[50:45]  ⁶ tn The words “of Babylonia” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.

[50:45]  sn The verbs in vv. 22-25 are all descriptive of the present, but all of this is really to take place in the future. Hebrew poetry has a way of rendering future actions as though they were already accomplished. The poetry of this section makes it difficult, however, to render the verbs as future as the present translation has regularly done.