10:6 I sent him 2 against a godless 3 nation,
I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, 4
to take plunder and to carry away loot,
to trample them down 5 like dirt in the streets.
13:3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; 6
I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, 7
my boasting, arrogant ones. 8
37:26 9 Certainly you must have heard! 10
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned 11 it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 12
45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen 13 one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold 14
in order to subdue nations before him,
and disarm kings, 15
to open doors before him,
so gates remain unclosed:
45:2 “I will go before you
and level mountains. 16
Bronze doors I will shatter
and iron bars 17 I will hack through.
45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, 18
riches stashed away in secret places,
so you may recognize that I am the Lord,
the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.
46:10 who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand 19 what has not yet occurred,
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire,’
46:11 who summons an eagle 20 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 21
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
14:17 “Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I were to kill both people and animals.
3:6 If an alarm sounds 22 in a city, do people not fear? 23
If disaster overtakes a 24 city, is the Lord not responsible? 25
1 tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).
2 sn Throughout this section singular forms are used to refer to Assyria; perhaps the king of Assyria is in view (see v. 12).
3 tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “impious”; NCV “separated from God.”
4 tn Heb “and against the people of my anger I ordered him.”
5 tn Heb “to make it [i.e., the people] a trampled place.”
6 tn Heb “my consecrated ones,” i.e., those who have been set apart by God for the special task of carrying out his judgment.
7 tn Heb “my warriors with respect to my anger.”
8 tn Heb “the boasting ones of my pride”; cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV “my proudly exulting ones.”
9 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
10 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
11 tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).
12 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
13 tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”
14 sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.
15 tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”
16 tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) makes little, if any, sense here. It is probably a corruption of an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”).
17 tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”
18 tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”
19 tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”
20 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
21 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
22 tn Heb “If the ram’s horn is blown.”
23 tn Or “tremble” (NASB, NIV, NCV); or “shake.”
24 tn Heb “is in”; NIV, NCV, NLT “comes to.”
25 tn Heb “has the