Isaiah 13
1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
The oracle on Babylon, —of which Isaiah, son of Amoz had vision: —
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 bare mountain, lift ye up a standard, Raise high the voice to them, Wave the hand, That they may enter the doors of nobles.
3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
I myself, have given charge to my hallowed ones, —Yea I have called My heroes in showing mine anger, My proudly exulting ones.
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 in the mountains, A resemblance of many people, —The noise of a tumult of kingdoms Nations gathered together, Yahweh of hosts, mustering a host 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 are coming in From a land far away. From the utmost bound of the heavens, —Yahweh—with his weapons of indignation, To destroy the land.
6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Howl ye! for at hand is the day of Yahweh, —As a veritable destruction from the Almighty, shall it come.
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
For this cause—All hands, shall hang down, —and Every mortal heart, 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 in distress—Writhings and pains, shall lay hold, As a woman in childbirth, shall they be in pangs, —Everyone, at his neighbour, shall look in amazement, Faces of flames, their faces!
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.
Lo! the day of Yahweh, coming in, Fierce and overflowing, and burning with anger, —To devote the earth to desolation, And her 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 flash forth their light, —Obscured shall be the sun in his going forth, And the moon, shall not shed 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, upon the inhabited earth, calamity!, And upon the lawless, their punishment, And will quiet the arrogance of the proud, And the loftiness of tyrants, will I lay low.
12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.
I will cause, a man, to be more precious than fine gold, —Even a son of earth than, the finest 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.
For this cause, the heavens, will I disturb, And, the earth, shall tremble out of her place, —In the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, And in the day of the glow of his 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 it shall be—Like a gazelle that is chased, And like a sheep with none to lift it up, —Each, to his own people, will they turn, And, each, to his own land, will they flee:
15 Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword.
Every one found, shall be thrust through, —And, every one taken, 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 infants, shall be dashed to the ground, before their eyes, —Plundered 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 me! stirring up against them the Medes, —Who of silver, shall take no account, And as for gold, they shall not delight in 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.
And, bows, shall dash the young to pieces, —And on the fruit of the womb, will they have no pity, Over children, will their eye throw no shield.
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.
Thus shall Babylon—The most lovely of kingdoms, The majestic beauty of the Chaldees—Become as in the divine overthrow 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 dwelt in for ever, Neither shall it be inhabited from generation to generation, —Neither shall encamp there, an Arab, Nor, shepherds, fold their flocks 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.
Then shall lie down there, wild beasts, And filled shall be their houses with owls, —Then shall inhabit there, the ostrich, And shaggy creatures, 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 answer, in their citadels, And wild dogs, in their voluptuous palaces, —And near to come is her time, And, her days, shall not be delayed.
