Babylon Falls to the Medes
Isaiah announces that the Medes will be stirred against Babylon and that its imperial splendor will be overthrown.
Isaiah 13:17–22
17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and [as for] gold, they shall not delight in it.
18[Their] bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
19¶ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
21But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
22And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in [their] pleasant palaces: and her time [is] near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
The prophetic word and its fulfillment
Sources & further reading
Historical facts and interpretive background are kept as structured citations so links can be checked and maintained over time.
The Great Isaiah Scroll
Israel Antiquities AuthorityInstitutional manuscript resource supporting the ancient transmission context of the biblical book; it does not by itself prove the proposed fulfillment.
The Cyrus Cylinder
British MuseumThe Babylonian royal inscription records Cyrus’s 539 BC conquest and restoration policy toward displaced peoples and cults.
The sources establish the historical record and provide background on the biblical passage. The conclusion that these events fulfill prophecy is the stated interpretation of Watchman 33.