Isaiah 13
1 A declaration about Babylon, that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
The burden of Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 On the bare mountain set up a signal flag, cry aloud to them, wave your hand for them to go into the gates of the nobles.
Over the foggy mountain lift up a sign! Raise the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers enter through the gates!
3 I have commanded my holy ones, yes, I have called my mighty men to execute my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
In my wrath, I commanded my sanctified ones, and I called my strong ones, those who exult in my glory.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of many people! The noise of a tumult of the kingdoms like many nations gathered together! Yahweh of hosts is mustering the army for the battle.
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,
5 They come from a far country, from way over the horizon. It is Yahweh with his instruments of judgment, to destroy the whole land.
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.
6 Howl, for the day of Yahweh is near; it comes with destruction from the Almighty.
Wail aloud! For the day of the Lord draws near! It will arrive like a devastation from the Lord.
7 Therefore all hands hang limp, and every heart melts.
Because of it, every hand will fail, and every heart of man will waste away and be crushed.
8 They will be terrified; pain and agony will seize them, like a woman in labor. They will look in astonishment at one another; their faces will be aflame.
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.
9 See, the day of Yahweh comes with cruel wrath and overflowing anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy the sinners from it.
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.
10 The stars of heaven and the constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened even from dawn, and the moon will not shine.
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.
11 I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will put an end to the arrogance of the proud and will bring down the arrogance of the ruthless.
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.
12 I will make men more rare than fine gold and mankind harder to find than the pure gold of Ophir.
A man will be more precious than gold, and mankind will become like pure refined gold.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, by the fury of Yahweh of hosts, and on the day of his fierce anger.
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.
14 Like a hunted gazelle or like a sheep with no shepherd, every man will turn toward his own people and will flee to his own land.
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.
15 Every one who is found will be killed, and every one who is captured will die by the sword.
All who are found will be killed, and all who are caught unaware will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be plundered and their wives raped.
Their infants will be thrown down violently before their eyes. Their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be violated.
17 Look, I am about to stir up the Medes to attack them, who will not be concerned about silver, nor do they delight in gold.
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them. They will not seek silver, nor desire gold.
18 Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants and they will not look with pity on children.
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.
19 Then Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms, the splendor of Chaldean pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
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.
20 It will not be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. The Arab will not pitch his tent there, nor will shepherds have their flocks rest there.
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.
21 But wild animals of the desert will lie there. Their houses will be full of owls; and ostriches and wild goats will skip about there.
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.
22 Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the beautiful palaces. Her time is near, and her days will not be delayed.
And the tawny owls will answer one another there, in its buildings, and the Sirens in its shrines of pleasure.
