Yes, I will weaken him and strengthen the king of Babylonia. When I give him my sword and he points it toward Egypt, everyone will know that I am the LORD.

They were trying to frighten us into stopping work. I prayed, "But now, God, make me strong!"

He is the God who makes me strong, who makes my pathway safe.

You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies.

Praise the LORD, my protector! He trains me for battle and prepares me for war.

The LORD has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the LORD will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the LORD says,

"I am the LORD; there is no other god. I will give you the strength you need, although you do not know me.

I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and I have made even the wild animals serve him.

"But if any nation or kingdom will not submit to his rule, then I will punish that nation by war, starvation, and disease until I have let Nebuchadnezzar destroy it completely.

When they pass through their sea of trouble, I, the LORD, will strike the waves, and the depths of the Nile will go dry. Proud Assyria will be humbled, and mighty Egypt will lose her power.

I will make my people strong; they will worship and obey me." The LORD has spoken.

that I will sharpen my flashing sword and see that justice is done. I will take revenge on my enemies and punish those who hate me.

My arrows will drip with their blood, and my sword will kill all who oppose me. I will spare no one who fights against me; even the wounded and prisoners will die.'

Come, LORD! Oppose my enemies and defeat them! Save me from the wicked by your sword;

The LORD said, "Assyria! I use Assyria like a club to punish those with whom I am angry.

I sent Assyria to attack a godless nation, people who have made me angry. I sent them to loot and steal and trample the people like dirt in the streets."

But the LORD says, "Can an ax claim to be greater than the one who uses it? Is a saw more important than the one who saws with it? A club doesn't lift up a person; a person lifts up a club."

The LORD will also put the people of Ethiopia to death.

The Sovereign LORD has this to say to the city of Tyre: "When you are being conquered, the people who live along the coast will be terrified at the screams of those who are slaughtered.

In the cities the wounded and dying cry out, but God ignores their prayers.

So then, I say that the time is coming when I will deal with Babylon's idols, and the wounded will groan throughout the country.