Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
A prophecy concerning Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 Over the foggy mountain lift up a sign! Raise the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers enter through the gates!
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 In my wrath, I commanded my sanctified ones, and I called my strong ones, those who exult in my glory.
I have given orders to my consecrated ones, Yea, I have called upon my mighty ones to execute mine anger, My proud exulters!
4 On the mountains, there is the voice of a multitude, as if of a numerous people, a voice with the sound of kings, of nations gathered together. For the Lord of hosts has given orders to soldiers of 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 to those who are arriving from a far off land, from the heights of the heavens. It is the Lord and the instruments of his fury, so that he may bring ruin to all the earth.
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 aloud! For the day of the Lord draws near! It will arrive like a devastation from the Lord.
Howl ye, for the day of Jehovah is at hand! Like a destruction from the Almighty, it cometh;
7 Because of it, every hand will fail, and every heart of man will waste away and be crushed.
Therefore shall all hands hang down, And every heart of man shall melt.
8 Writhing and pain will seize them. They will be in pain, like a woman in labor. Each one will appear stupefied to his neighbor. Their countenances will be like faces which have been burned up.
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 approaches: a cruel day, full of indignation and wrath and fury, which will place the earth in solitude and crush the sinners from 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 the heavens, in their splendor, will not display their light. The sun will be obscured at its rising, and the moon will not shine in her brightness.
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 And I will act against the evils of the world, and against the impious for their iniquity. And I will cause the pride of the unfaithful to cease, and I will bring down the arrogance of the strong.
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 A man will be more precious than gold, and mankind will become like pure refined gold.
I will make men scarcer than gold; Yea, men than the gold of Ophir.
13 For this purpose, I will stir up heaven, and the earth will be moved from its place, because of the indignation of the Lord of hosts, because of the day of his furious wrath.
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 And they will be like a doe fleeing away, or like sheep; and there will be no one who may gather them together. Each one will turn to his own people, and every one will flee to his own 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 All who are found will be killed, and all who are caught unaware will fall 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 thrown down violently before their eyes. Their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be violated.
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 the Medes against them. They will not seek silver, nor desire 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 Instead, with their arrows, they will put the little children to death, and they will take no pity on breastfeeding women, and their eye will not spare their 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 then Babylon, the glorious one among kingdoms, that famous pride of the Chaldeans, will be destroyed, even as the Lord destroyed 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 It will not be inhabited, even unto the end, and it will not be reestablished, even from generation to generation. The Arab will not pitch his tents there, nor will the shepherds take rest 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 Instead, the wild beasts will rest there, and their houses will be filled with serpents, and ostriches will live there, and the hairy ones will leap about there.
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 And the tawny owls will answer one another there, in its buildings, and the Sirens in its shrines of pleasure.
Wolves shall howl in their palaces, And jackals in their pleasant edifices. Her time is near, And her days shall not be prolonged.
