Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
A prophecy concerning Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
Upon the bare mountain lift up a banner; Cry aloud to them, wave the hand, That they may enter the gates of the tyrants!
3 I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
I have given orders to my consecrated ones, Yea, I have called upon my mighty ones to execute mine anger, My proud exulters!
4 The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! The LORD of Armies is mustering the army for the battle.
The noise of a multitude upon the mountains, like that of a great people! The tumultuous noise of kingdoms, of nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts mustereth his army for battle.
5 They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
They come from a distant country, From the end of Heaven, Jehovah and the instruments of his indignation. To lay waste the whole land.
6 Wail, for the LORD’s day is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Howl ye, for the day of Jehovah is at hand! Like a destruction from the Almighty, it cometh;
7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt.
Therefore shall all hands hang down, And every heart of man shall melt.
8 They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame.
They shall be in consternation; Distress and anguish shall lay hold of them; As a woman in travail shall they writhe; They shall look upon one another with amazement: Their faces shall glow like flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.
Behold! the day of Jehovah cometh, Terrible, full of wrath and burning indignation, To make the land a waste, And to destroy the sinners out of it.
10 For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
For the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, Shall not give their light; The sun shall be darkened at his going forth, And the moon shall withhold her light.
11 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the arrogance of the terrible.
For I will punish the world for its guilt, And the wicked for their iniquity. I will put an end to the arrogance of the proud, And I will bring down the haughtiness of the tyrants.
12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir.
I will make men scarcer than gold; Yea, men than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the LORD of Armies’ wrath, and in the day of his fierce anger.
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth shall be shaken out of her place, In the anger of Jehovah of hosts, In the day of his burning indignation.
14 It will happen that like a hunted gazelle and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land.
Then shall they be like a chased doe; Like a flock, which no one gathereth together; Every one shall turn to his own people, And every one flee to his own land.
15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
Every one that is overtaken shall be thrust through, And every one that is caught shall fall by the sword.
16 Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.
Their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.
Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, Who make no account of silver, And as to gold, they do not regard it.
18 Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.
Their bows shall strike down the young men, And on the fruit of the womb they shall have no compassion; Their eye shall not pity the children.
19 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
So shall Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The proud ornament of the Chaldeans, Be like Sodom and Gomorrah, which God overthrew,
20 It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
It shall never more be inhabited; Nor shall it be dwelt in through all generations. Nor shall the Arabian pitch his tent there, Nor shall shepherds make their folds there.
21 But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.
But there shall the wild beasts of the desert lodge, And owls shall fill their houses; And ostriches shall dwell there, And satyrs shall dance there.
22 Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
Wolves shall howl in their palaces, And jackals in their pleasant edifices. Her time is near, And her days shall not be prolonged.
