Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
[I], Isaiah, the son of Amoz, received [from Yahweh] this message about Babylon [city]:
2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
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]!
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for my anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
[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].”
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
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.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
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].
6 Wail ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
[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].
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
All of your people will be very afraid [DOU], with the result that they will be unable even to lift their arms.
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
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.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy its sinners out of it.
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.
10 For the stars of heaven and its constellations shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
[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].
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
[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.
12 I will make a man more rare than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
[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].
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
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].
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one to his own land.
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.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined to them shall fall by the sword.
Anyone who is captured [in Babylon] will be killed by [their enemies’] swords [DOU].
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished.
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.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
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].
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
[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!”
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
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.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
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.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
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].
22 And the wild beasts of the isles shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
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.
