Isaiah 13
1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
The doom of Babylon, which Isaiah Amoz' son foresaw.
2 Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
Upon a high mountain lift ye up a banner, raise high your voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may enter into the gates of the princes.
3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
I have charged my prepared ones, I have also called my heroes for my anger, those that rejoice in my highness.
4 Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.
There is a noise of tumult on the mountains, like that of a numerous people; a noise of shouting of kingdoms of nations assembled; the Lord of hosts mustereth a host of battle.
5 They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens— the LORD and the weapons of His wrath— to destroy the whole country.
They are coming from a far-off country, from the end of the heavens, [here is] the Lord, with the weapons of his indignation, to destroy all the land.
6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Wail ye; for nigh is the day of the Lord; like wasting from the Almighty shall it come.
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
Therefore all hands shall become weak, and every mortal's heart shall melt;
8 Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
And they shall be affrighted, pangs and pains shall seize on them; they shall have throes as a woman that travaileth; one at the other shall they look amazed; red like flames shall their faces glow.
9 Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming— cruel, with fury and burning anger— to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, direful, [laden] with wrath and the fierceness of anger, to render the earth desolate: and its sinners will he destroy out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations shall not give forth their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not shed abroad her light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.
And I will visit on the world its evil, and on the wicked their iniquity; and I will stop the arrogance of the presumptuous, and the haughtiness of the tyrants will I humble.
12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.
I will make the mortal more precious than fine gold; and man, more than the valued metal of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger.
Therefore will I shake the heavens, and the earth shall start quaking out of her place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and on the day of his fierce anger.
14 Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
And the people shall be as the chased roe, and as flocks which no one gathereth up; every man to his own people shall they turn, and every man into his own land shall they flee.
15 Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword.
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
And their babes shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes: spoiled shall be their houses, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.
Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes; who will not regard silver, and who will not delight in gold.
18 Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.
And their bows will dash young men to pieces; and on the fruit of the womb will they have no mercy; on children their eye will not look with pity.
19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
And [thus] shall Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the proud ornament of the Chaldeans, become like the overthrow through God of Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.
It shall not be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be dwelt in from generation to generation; nor shall the Arabian pitch there his tent; and shepherds shall not let their flocks rest there.
21 But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.
But there shall rest the wild beasts of the desert; and their houses shall be full of owls; and ostriches shall dwell there, and evil spirits shall dance there.
22 Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
And jackals shall howl in her palaces, and monsters in the temples of pleasure; and near to come is her time, and her days shall not be extended.
