Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
The burden of Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain. Lift up the voice to them. Wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
Over the foggy mountain lift up a sign! Raise the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers enter through the gates!
3 I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
In my wrath, I commanded my sanctified ones, and I called my strong ones, those who exult in my glory.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! The noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the army for the battle.
On the mountains, there is the voice of a multitude, as if of a numerous people, a voice with the sound of kings, of nations gathered together. For the Lord of hosts has given orders to soldiers of war,
5 They come from a far country, from the outermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
to those who are arriving from a far off land, from the heights of the heavens. It is the Lord and the instruments of his fury, so that he may bring ruin to all the earth.
6 Wail ye, for the day of Jehovah is at hand. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
Wail aloud! For the day of the Lord draws near! It will arrive like a devastation from the Lord.
7 Therefore all hands shall be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt.
Because of it, every hand will fail, and every heart of man will waste away and be crushed.
8 And they shall be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold. They shall be in pain as a woman in travail. They shall look in amazement one at another, their faces, faces of flame.
Writhing and pain will seize them. They will be in pain, like a woman in labor. Each one will appear stupefied to his neighbor. Their countenances will be like faces which have been burned up.
9 Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Behold, the day of the Lord approaches: a cruel day, full of indignation and wrath and fury, which will place the earth in solitude and crush the sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations of it shall not give their light. The sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
For the stars of the heavens, in their splendor, will not display their light. The sun will be obscured at its rising, and the moon will not shine in her brightness.
11 And I will punish the world for the evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
And I will act against the evils of the world, and against the impious for their iniquity. And I will cause the pride of the unfaithful to cease, and I will bring down the arrogance of the strong.
12 I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir.
A man will be more precious than gold, and mankind will become like pure refined gold.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
For this purpose, I will stir up heaven, and the earth will be moved from its place, because of the indignation of the Lord of hosts, because of the day of his furious wrath.
14 And it shall come to pass, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathers, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land.
And they will be like a doe fleeing away, or like sheep; and there will be no one who may gather them together. Each one will turn to his own people, and every one will flee to his own land.
15 Everyone who is found shall be thrust through, and everyone who is taken shall fall by the sword.
All who are found will be killed, and all who are caught unaware will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
Their infants will be thrown down violently before their eyes. Their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be violated.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them. They will not seek silver, nor desire gold.
18 And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces. And they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
Instead, with their arrows, they will put the little children to death, and they will take no pity on breastfeeding women, and their eye will not spare their children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
And then Babylon, the glorious one among kingdoms, that famous pride of the Chaldeans, will be destroyed, even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, nor shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.
It will not be inhabited, even unto the end, and it will not be reestablished, even from generation to generation. The Arab will not pitch his tents there, nor will the shepherds take rest there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures. And ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.
Instead, the wild beasts will rest there, and their houses will be filled with serpents, and ostriches will live there, and the hairy ones will leap about there.
22 And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. And her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
And the tawny owls will answer one another there, in its buildings, and the Sirens in its shrines of pleasure.
