Isaiah 13
1 A prophecy concerning Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
THE VISION WHICH ESAIAS SON OF AMOS SAW AGAINST BABYLON.
2 Upon the bare mountain lift up a banner; Cry aloud to them, wave the hand, That they may enter the gates of the tyrants!
Lift up a standard on the mountain of the plain, exalt the voice to them, beckon with the hand, open [the gates], you rulers.
3 I have given orders to my consecrated ones, Yea, I have called upon my mighty ones to execute mine anger, My proud exulters!
I give command, and I bring them: giants are coming to fulfil my wrath, rejoicing at the same time and insulting.
4 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.
A voice of many nations on the mountains, [even] like [to that] of many nations; a voice of kings and nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts has given command to a warlike nation,
5 They come from a distant country, From the end of Heaven, Jehovah and the instruments of his indignation. To lay waste the whole land.
to come from a land afar off, from the utmost foundation of heaven; the Lord and his warriors [are coming] to destroy all the world.
6 Howl ye, for the day of Jehovah is at hand! Like a destruction from the Almighty, it cometh;
Howl you, for the day of the Lord is near, and destruction from God shall arrive.
7 Therefore shall all hands hang down, And every heart of man shall melt.
Therefore every hand shall become powerless, and every soul of man shall be dismayed.
8 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.
The elders shall be troubled, and pangs shall seize them, as of a woman in travail: and they shall mourn one to another, and shall be amazed, and shall change their countenance as a flame.
9 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.
For behold! the day of the Lord is coming which can’t be escaped, [a day] of wrath and anger, to make the world desolate, and to destroy sinners out of it.
10 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.
For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven, shall not give their light; and it shall be dark at sunrise, and the moon shall not give her light.
11 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.
And I will command evils for the whole world, and [will visit] their sins on the ungodly: and I will destroy the pride of transgressors, and will bring low the pride of the haughty.
12 I will make men scarcer than gold; Yea, men than the gold of Ophir.
And they that are left shall be more precious than gold tried in the fire; and a man shall be more precious than the stone that is in Suphir.
13 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.
For the heaven shall be enraged, and the earth shall be shaken from her foundation, because of the fierce anger of the Lord of hosts, in the day in which his wrath shall come on.
14 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.
And they that are left shall be as a fleeing fawn, and as a stray sheep, and there shall be none to gather [them]: so that a man shall turn back to his people, and a man shall flee to his own land.
15 Every one that is overtaken shall be thrust through, And every one that is caught shall fall by the sword.
For whoever shall be taken shall be overcome; and they that are gathered together shall fall by the sword.
16 Their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished.
And they shall dash their children before their eyes; and they shall spoil their houses, and shall take their wives.
17 Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, Who make no account of silver, And as to gold, they do not regard it.
Behold, I will stir up against you the Medes, who do not regard silver, neither have they need of gold.
18 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.
They shall break the bows of the young men; and they shall have no mercy on your children; nor shall their eyes spare your children.
19 So shall Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The proud ornament of the Chaldeans, Be like Sodom and Gomorrah, which God overthrew,
And Babylon, which is called glorious by the king of the Chaldeans, shall be as [when] God overthrew Sodoma, and Gomorrha.
20 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.
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall any enter into it for many generations: neither shall the Arabians pass through it; nor shall shepherds at all rest in it.
21 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.
But wild beasts shall rest there; and the houses shall be filled with howling; and monsters shall rest there, and devils shall dance there, and satyrs shall dwell there; and hedgehogs shall make their nests in their houses. It will come soon, and will not wait.
22 Wolves shall howl in their palaces, And jackals in their pleasant edifices. Her time is near, And her days shall not be prolonged.
