Isaiah 13
1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
[I], Isaiah, the son of Amoz, received [from Yahweh] this message about Babylon [city]:
2 Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
Lift up a flag on the bare [top of a] hill, to signal [that an army should come to attack Babylon]. Shout to them and wave your hand [to signal to them] that they should march through the city gates into the palaces of the proud [rulers of Babylon]!
3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
[Yahweh says], “I have commanded those soldiers to do that; I have summoned the warriors whom I have chosen to punish [the people of Babylon] because of my being very angry with them, and those soldiers will be very proud [when they do that].”
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.
Listen to the noise on the mountains, which is the noise of a huge army marching! It is the noise made by people of many people-groups shouting. The Commander of the armies of angels has summoned this army to gather together.
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 countries that are far away, from the most remote places [IDM] on the earth. They are [like] [SIM] weapons that Yahweh will use [to punish the people with whom] he is very angry, and to destroy the entire country [of Babylonia].
6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
[You people of Babylon] will scream because you will be terrified, because it will be the time that Yahweh [has determined/chosen], the time for the all-powerful [God] to destroy [your city].
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
All of your people will be very afraid [DOU], with the result that they will be unable even to lift their arms.
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.
All of you will be terrified. You will have [PRS] severe pains like [SIM] a woman has when she is giving birth to a baby. You will look at each other helplessly, and it will show on your faces that you feel horror.
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.
Listen to this: The day that Yahweh has appointed/chosen is near, the day that he will furiously and fiercely [punish you] because he is very angry [with you]. He will cause your land [of Babylonia] to be desolate/barren, and he will destroy [all] the sinners in 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.
[When that happens], none of the stars will shine. When the sun rises, it will be dark, and there will be no light from the moon [at night].
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.
[Yahweh says], “I will punish [everyone in] the world for the evil things that they do; I will punish the wicked people for the sins that they have committed. I will stop arrogant/proud people from being proud, and I will stop ruthless people from acting cruelly.
12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.
[And because I will cause most people to die], people will be harder to find than gold, harder to find than fine gold from Ophir [in Arabia].
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.
I will shake the sky, and the earth will [also] move out of its place. That will happen when [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, punish [wicked people], when [I show them that] I am extremely angry [with them].
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 all [the foreigners in Babylon will run around] like [SIM] deer that are being hunted, like sheep that do not have a shepherd. They will try to find other people from their countries, and [then] they will escape [from Babylon] and return to their own countries.
15 Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword.
Anyone who is captured [in Babylon] will be killed by [their enemies’] swords [DOU].
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
Their little children will be dashed to pieces on the rocks while [their parents] watch; [their enemies] will steal everything valuable from their houses and will rape their wives.
17 Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.
Look! I am going to incite the people of Media to attack Babylon. The [army of Media] will attack Babylon, even if they are offered [DOU] silver or gold [if they promise to not attack 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.
[With] their arrows, the [soldiers of Media] will shoot the young men [of Babylon]; they will not [even] act mercifully [DOU] toward infants or 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.
Babylon has been a very beautiful [MTY] city; [all] the people of Babylonia have been very proud of Babylon, [their capital city]; [but] God will destroy Babylon, like [SIM] he destroyed 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.
No one will ever live in Babylon again. It will be deserted forever. (Nomads/People who travel from place to place to live) will refuse to set up their tents there; shepherds will not bring their flocks of sheep to 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.
Instead, animals that live in the desert will be there; jackals/wolves will live in [the ruins of] the houses. Owls (OR, Ostriches) will live in [the ruins], and wild goats will romp/jump around [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.
Hyenas will howl in the [ruined] towers, and jackals/wolves will make their dens in [the ruins of] the palaces that [were previously] very beautiful. The time when [Babylon will be destroyed] is very near; Babylon will not exist much longer.
