Isaiah 13
1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
A prophecy concerning Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
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 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 sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
I have given orders to my consecrated ones, Yea, I have called upon my mighty ones to execute mine anger, My proud exulters!
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.
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 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 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 Day of the LORD is near; 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 fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
Therefore shall all hands hang down, And every heart of man 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.
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 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 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 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 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 its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.
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 man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the 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 from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning 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 Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native 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 Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die 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 will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
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 against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.
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 young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the 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 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like 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 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 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 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 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 howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, 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.
