Isaiah 13
1 [I], Isaiah, the son of Amoz, received [from Yahweh] this message about Babylon [city]:
The burden of Babylon, which Isaias the son of Amos saw.
2 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]!
Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates.
3 [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].”
I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory.
4 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.
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.
5 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].
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.
6 [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].
Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord.
7 All of your people will be very afraid [DOU], with the result that they will be unable even to lift their arms.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt,
8 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.
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.
9 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.
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.
10 [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].
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.
11 [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.
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.
12 [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].
A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the finest of gold.
13 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].
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.
14 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.
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.
15 Anyone who is captured [in Babylon] will be killed by [their enemies’] swords [DOU].
Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword.
16 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.
Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished.
17 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].
Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold:
18 [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!”
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.
19 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.
And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha.
20 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.
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.
21 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].
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:
22 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.
And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.
