Isa 43:3-4, 44:24-45:5, Jer 50:2-11, 17-18, 27-34, 51:1-11, 24, 34-37 | ESV | STEP | For I am the Lord your God , the Holy One of Israel , your Savior . I give Egypt as your ransom , Cush and Seba in exchange for you .

3 For ^aI am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
^bI give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and ^cSeba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.

Isaiah 44:24-28

24 Thus says the Lord, ^dyour Redeemer,
^ewho formed you from the womb:
^f“I am the Lord, who made all things,
^gwho alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
^hwho turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 ⁱwho confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
^jand of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins’;
27 ^kwho says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
I will dry up your rivers’;
28 who says of ^lCyrus, ‘He is ^mmy shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
ⁿand of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

Isaiah 45:1-5

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

1 Thus says the Lord to ^ohis anointed, to Cyrus,
^pwhose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and ^qto loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
2 “I will go before you
and ^rlevel the exalted places, ^{▼▼Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains}
^tI will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 ^uI will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, ^vwho call you by your name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
^wI call you by your name,
^xI name you, though you do not know me.
5 ^yI am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
^zI equip you, though you do not know me,

Jeremiah 50:2-11

2 “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
set up a banner and proclaim,
conceal it not, and say:
^aa‘Babylon is taken,
^abBel is put to shame,
Merodach is dismayed.
^acHer images are put to shame,
her idols are dismayed.’
3 “For ^adout of the north a nation has come up against her, ^aewhich shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; ^afboth man and beast shall flee away.

4 ^ag“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^ahthe people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, ^aiweeping as they come, and they ^ajshall seek the Lord their God. 5 ^akThey shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, ^alsaying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an ^ameverlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

6 ^an“My people have been lost sheep. ^aoTheir shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. 7 All who found them have devoured them, ^apand their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for ^aqthey have sinned against the Lord, ^artheir habitation of righteousness, the Lord, ^asthe hope of their fathers.’

8 ^at“Flee from the midst of Babylon, ^auand go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. 9 For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon ^ava gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 10 ^awChaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

11 ^ax“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
and neigh like stallions,

Jeremiah 50:17-18

17 ^ay“Israel is a hunted sheep ^azdriven away by lions. ^baFirst the king of Assyria ^bbdevoured him, and now at last ^bcNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^bdhas gnawed his bones. 18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, ^beI am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, ^bfas I punished the king of Assyria.

Jeremiah 50:27-34

27 Kill all ^bgher bulls;
let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
^bhthe time of their punishment.
28 “A voice! They ^biflee and escape from the land of Babylon, ^bjto declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for ^bkhis temple.

29 ^bl“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. ^bmEncamp around her; let no one escape. ^bnRepay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has ^boproudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 30 ^bpTherefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

31 “Behold, I am against you, O ^bqproud one,
declares the Lord God of hosts,
^brfor your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32 ^bsThe proud one shall stumble and fall,
with none to raise him up,
^btand I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour all that is around him.
33 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^buThe people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^bvthey refuse to let them go. 34 ^bwTheir Redeemer is strong; ^bxthe Lord of hosts is his name. ^byHe will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:1-11

The Utter Destruction of Babylon

1 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up ^bzthe spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon,
against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai, ^{▼▼A code name for Chaldea}
2 and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
and ^cbthey shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
when they come against her from every side
^ccon the day of trouble.
3 ^cdLet not the archer bend his bow,
and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
^cedevote to destruction ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)} all her army.
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
^cgand wounded in her streets.
5 ^chFor Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans ^{▼▼Hebrew their land} is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6 ^cj“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
let every one save his life!
^ckBe not cut off in her punishment,
^clfor this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance,
the repayment he is rendering her.
7 Babylon was ^cma golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
^cnmaking all the earth drunken;
^cothe nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
8 ^cpSuddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
^cqwail for her!
^crTake balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
^csForsake her, and ^ctlet us go
each to his own country,
for ^cuher judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
10 ^cvThe Lord has brought about our vindication;
^cwcome, let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.
11 ^cx“Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!
^cyThe Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of ^czthe Medes, because ^dahis purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, ^dbfor that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for ^dchis temple.

Jeremiah 51:24

24 ^dd“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 51:34-37

34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon ^dehas devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
^dfhe has swallowed me like ^dga monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out. ^{▼▼Or he has expelled me}
35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, ^diI will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
^djI will dry up her sea
and ^dkmake her fountain dry,
37 and Babylon shall become ^dla heap of ruins,
^dmthe haunt of jackals,
^dna horror ^doand a hissing,
without inhabitant.