“I will mention Rahab (Egypt) and Babylon among those who know Me—
Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia (Cush)—
‘This one was born there.’”

He broke off the topmost of its young twigs (young King Jehoiachin) and carried it to a land of traders (Babylonia); he set it in a city of merchants (Babylon).

Then it sprouted and grew and became a low, spreading vine whose branches turned [in submission] toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches.

But Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by sending his ambassadors to Egypt so that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant [with Babylon] and [still] escape?

As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely in the country of the king (Nebuchadnezzar) who made Zedekiah [the vassal] king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon Zedekiah shall die.

I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there for his treason which he has committed against Me.

‘They put him in a cage with hooks and chains
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would be heard no more
On the mountains of Israel.

‘And now it is transplanted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land [of Babylon].

The sword [of Babylon] is ready to be polished so that it may be handled and put to use; the sword is sharpened and polished to be put in the hand of the slayer (Nebuchadnezzar).

“As for you, son of man, mark out two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost; place it at the head of the way to the city.

For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim (household idols), he looks at the liver [of an animal for an omen].

“Son of man, record the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.

For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots and with horsemen and a great army.

In the tenth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the twenty-seventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it shall be the wages for his army.

“A sword will come upon Egypt,
And anguish and trembling will be in Ethiopia (Cush),
When the slain fall in Egypt
And they [of Babylon] carry away her great mass of people and her riches
And her foundations are torn down.

‘Thus says the Lord God,

“I will also make the great people of Egypt cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon], in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the twelfth year [after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken into exile by the king of Babylon], in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

For thus says the Lord God, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come on you.

“Son of man, speak to the sons of your people [who are exiled in Babylon] and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword on a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,

In the twelfth year of our exile [in Babylon], on the fifth of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been captured.”

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile [in Babylon], in the beginning of the year, on the tenth [day] of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city [of Jerusalem] was taken, on that [very] same day the hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me there.

And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision I saw beside the River Chebar [near Babylon]; and I fell face downward.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Because of this the king was indignant and extremely furious and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

in order that they might seek compassion from the God of heaven regarding this secret, so that Daniel and his companions would not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

and wherever the sons of men dwell, and the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You [king of Babylon] are the head of gold.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made a gold [-plated] image, whose height [including the pedestal] was sixty cubits (ninety feet) and its width six cubits (nine feet). He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

So I gave orders to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon, so that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

Twelve months later he was walking on the upper level of the royal palace of Babylon.

The king said thoughtfully, ‘Is not this the great Babylon which I myself have built as the royal residence and seat of government by the might of my power and for the honor and glory of my majesty?’

The king called aloud to bring in the enchanters (Magi), the Chaldeans [who were master astrologers] and the diviners. The king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold put around his neck, and have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.”

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions appeared in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related a summary of it.

“Writhe in pain and labor to give birth,
O Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you shall go out of the city,
Live in the field,
And go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued;
There the Lord shall redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.

The one who scatters has come up against you [Nineveh].
Man the fortress and ramparts, watch the road;
Strengthen your back [prepare for battle], summon all your strength.

The shields of his soldiers [of Media and Babylon] are colored red;
The warriors are dressed in scarlet.
The chariots blaze with fire of [flashing] steel
When he is prepared to march,
And the cypress spears are brandished [for battle].

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we [captives] sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].

On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon
We hung our harps.