Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaias the son of Amos saw.
The word of the Lord about Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates.
Put up a flag on a clear mountain-top, make a loud outcry to them, give directions with the hand, so that they may go into the doors of the great ones.
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory.
I have given orders to my holy ones, I have sent out my men of war, those of mine who take pride in their power, to give effect to my wrath.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war.
The noise of great numbers in the mountains, like the noise of a strong people! The noise of the kingdoms of the nations meeting together! The Lord of armies is numbering his forces for war.
5 To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of heaven: tile Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land.
They come from a far country, from the farthest part of heaven, even the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, with destruction for all the land.
6 Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord.
Send out a cry of grief; for the day of the Lord is near; it comes as destruction from the Most High.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt,
For this cause all hands will be feeble, and every heart of man be turned to water;
8 And shall be broken. Gripings and pains shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt.
Their hearts will be full of fear; pains and sorrows will overcome them; they will be in pain like a woman in childbirth; they will be shocked at one another; their faces will be like flames.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
See, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with wrath and burning passion: to make the land a waste, driving the sinners in it to destruction.
10 For the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light.
For the stars of heaven and its bright armies will not give their light: the sun will be made dark in his journey through the heaven, and the moon will keep back her light.
11 And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogancy of the mighty.
And I will send punishment on the world for its evil, and on the sinners for their wrongdoing; and I will put an end to all pride, and will make low the power of the cruel.
12 A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the finest of gold.
I will make men so small in number, that a man will be harder to get than gold, even the best gold of Ophir.
13 For this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of his tierce wrath.
For this cause the heavens will be shaking, and the earth will be moved out of its place, in the wrath of the Lord of armies, and in the day of his burning passion.
14 And they shall be as a doe fleeing away, and as a sheep: and there shall be none to gather them together: every man shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land.
And it will be that, like a roe in flight, and like wandering sheep, they will go every man to his people and to his land.
15 Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword.
Everyone who is overtaken will have a spear put through him, and everyone who goes in flight will be put to the sword.
16 Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished.
Their young children will be broken up before their eyes; their goods will be taken away, and their wives made the property of others.
17 Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold:
See, I am driving the Medes against them, who put no value on silver and have no pleasure in gold.
18 But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not spare their sons.
In their hands are bows and spears; they are cruel, violently putting the young men to death, and crushing the young women; they have no pity for children, and no mercy for the fruit of the body.
19 And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beautiful town which is the pride of the Chaldaeans, will be like God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall no more be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there.
People will never be living in it again, and it will have no more men from generation to generation: the Arab will not put up his tent there; and those who keep sheep will not make it a resting-place for their flocks.
21 But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones shall dance there:
But the beasts of the waste land will have their holes there; and the houses will be full of crying jackals, and ostriches will have their place there, and evil spirits will be dancing there.
22 And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.
And wolves will be answering one another in their towers, and jackals in their houses of pleasure: her time is near, and her days of power will quickly be ended.
