So I will continue to amaze these people by doing more and more miracles. Their wise men will lose their wisdom; their wise men will not be able to understand.”
“I have brought someone to come out of the north I have called by name a man from the east, and he knows me. He walks on kings as if they were mud, just as a potter walks on the clay.
I show that the signs of the lying prophets are false; I make fools of those who do magic. I confuse even the wise; they think they know much, but I make them look foolish.
This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his appointed king: “I hold your right hand and will help you defeat nations and take away other kings’ power. I will open doors for you so city gates will not stop you.
Everyone should respect you, King of the nations; you deserve respect. Of all the wise people among the nations and in all the kingdoms, none of them is as wise as you.
Kill all the young men in Babylon; let them be killed like animals. How terrible it will be for them, because the time has come for their defeat; it is time for them to be punished.
While they are stirred up, I will give a feast for them and make them drunk. They will shout and laugh. And they will sleep forever and never wake up!” says the Lord.
The time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon, and the whole land will be disgraced. There will be many dead people lying all around.
I will make Babylon’s rulers and wise men drunk, and her governors, officers, and soldiers, too. Then they will sleep forever and never wake up,” says the King, whose name is the Lord All-Powerful.
These wise teachers refused to listen to the word of the Lord, so they are not really wise at all. They will be ashamed. They will be shocked and trapped.
You broke my agreement, and I will punish you. I will bring armies against you, and if you go into your cities for safety, I will cause diseases to spread among you so that your enemy will defeat you.
“How terrible it will be for the useless shepherd who abandoned the flock. A sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will lose all its strength, and his right eye will go blind.”