Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
This is the message Isaiah, son of Amoz, received about Babylon.
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.
Set up a banner on a bare hilltop; shout out to them; wave your hand to encourage them to enter the palaces of princes.
3 I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
I have ordered the ones I have chosen to attack; I have called my warriors to execute my furious judgment and to celebrate my triumph.
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.
A noise comes from the mountains, sounding like that of a huge crowd! It's the roaring sound from the kingdoms, from nations gathering together! The Lord Almighty is calling up an army for 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.
They are coming from distant lands, from beyond the far horizons—the Lord and the weapons of his fury—coming to destroy the whole country.
6 Wail ye, for the day of Jehovah is at hand. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
Howl in fear, for the day of the Lord is approaching—the time when the Almighty destroys.
7 Therefore all hands shall be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt.
Everyone's hands will fall limp, and everyone will lose their minds in panic.
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.
They will be terrified; pain and anguish will seize them; they will suffer like a woman giving birth. They will look in shock at each other, their faces burning in fear.
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.
Look! The day of the Lord is coming—cruel, with fury and fierce anger—to devastate the land and to wipe out its sinners.
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.
The stars in the constellations of heaven above will not shine. When the sun rises it will stay dark. The moon will give no light.
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.
I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their sin, says the Lord. I will put an end to the conceit of the arrogant, and I will humiliate tyrants and their pride.
12 I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir.
I will make people scarcer than pure gold, rarer than the gold of Ophir.
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.
So I will shake the heavens and make the earth jump out of its place because of the fury of the Lord Almighty, at the time when his anger burns.
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.
Like a gazelle being hunted, or like sheep without a shepherd, the Babylonians will return to their own people, they will run away to their own land.
15 Everyone who is found shall be thrust through, and everyone who is taken shall fall by the sword.
Anyone who is captured will be stabbed to death; anyone who is caught will be killed 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 little children will be dashed to pieces as they watch, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.
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.
I'm going to get the Medes to attack them, people who don't care about silver or 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.
Their bows will slaughter their young men; they will show no mercy to babies; they will have no pity on children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Babylon, the most marvelous city of any kingdom, the greatest pride of the Babylonian people, will be demolished by God like 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.
No one will ever live in Babylon again. It will be deserted—no desert nomad will set up a tent there, no shepherd will bring a flock to 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.
Only desert animals will make their homes there, and the ruined houses will be inhabited by wild dogs. Owls will live there, and wild goats will leap around.
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.
Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her lavish palaces. Babylon's time is coming soon—they will not last much longer.
