Isaiah 39:3

39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”

Isaiah 39:6

39:6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors ¹  have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.

Isaiah 43:14

The Lord Will Do Something New

43:14 This is what the Lord says,

your protector, ²  the Holy One of Israel: ³ 

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and make them all fugitives, ⁴ 

turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ⁵ 

Isaiah 47:1

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin ⁶  daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ⁷  you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

Isaiah 48:14

48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!

Who among them ⁸  announced these things?

The Lord’s ally ⁹  will carry out his desire against Babylon;

he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 48:20

48:20 Leave Babylon!

Flee from the Babylonians!

Announce it with a shout of joy!

Make this known!

Proclaim it throughout the earth! ¹¹ 

Say, ‘The Lord protects ¹²  his servant Jacob.

[39:6]  ¹ tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

[43:14]  ¹ tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[43:14]  ² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:14]  ³ tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”

[43:14]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.

[47:1]  ¹ tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

[47:1]  ² tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[48:14]  ¹ sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

[48:14]  ² tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

[48:14]  ³ tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

[48:20]  ¹ tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[48:20]  ² tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.