Isaiah 13
1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
The burden of 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.
Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for my anger, even them 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.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the 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 far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Wail ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’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 afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as 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 the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy its 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 its constellations shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
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 punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.
I will make a man more rare than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge 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 shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in 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 it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one to his own land.
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 to 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.
Their children also 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 will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver; 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.
Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare 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.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew 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 never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold 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 wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls 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.
And the wild beasts of the isles shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
