< Isaiah 13 >
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
The oracle on Babylon, —of which Isaiah, son of Amoz had vision: —
2 Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
Upon a bare mountain, lift ye up a standard, Raise high the voice to them, Wave the hand, That they may enter the doors of nobles.
3 I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
I myself, have given charge to my hallowed ones, —Yea I have called My heroes in showing mine anger, My proudly exulting ones.
4 The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! The LORD of Armies is mustering the army for the battle.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, A resemblance of many people, —The noise of a tumult of kingdoms Nations gathered together, Yahweh of hosts, mustering a host for battle!
5 They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
They are coming in From a land far away. From the utmost bound of the heavens, —Yahweh—with his weapons of indignation, To destroy the land.
6 Wail, for the LORD’s day is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Howl ye! for at hand is the day of Yahweh, —As a veritable destruction from the Almighty, shall it come.
7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt.
For this cause—All hands, shall hang down, —and Every mortal heart, melt.
8 They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame.
And they shall be in distress—Writhings and pains, shall lay hold, As a woman in childbirth, shall they be in pangs, —Everyone, at his neighbour, shall look in amazement, Faces of flames, their faces!
9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.
Lo! the day of Yahweh, coming in, Fierce and overflowing, and burning with anger, —To devote the earth to desolation, And her sinners, will he destroy out of it.
10 For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations, shall not flash forth their light, —Obscured shall be the sun in his going forth, And the moon, shall not shed her light.
11 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the arrogance of the terrible.
And I will visit, upon the inhabited earth, calamity!, And upon the lawless, their punishment, And will quiet the arrogance of the proud, And the loftiness of tyrants, will I lay low.
12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir.
I will cause, a man, to be more precious than fine gold, —Even a son of earth than, the finest gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the LORD of Armies’ wrath, and in the day of his fierce anger.
For this cause, the heavens, will I disturb, And, the earth, shall tremble out of her place, —In the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, And in the day of the glow of his anger.
14 It will happen that like a hunted gazelle and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land.
And it shall be—Like a gazelle that is chased, And like a sheep with none to lift it up, —Each, to his own people, will they turn, And, each, to his own land, will they flee:
15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
Every one found, shall be thrust through, —And, every one taken, shall fall by the sword;
16 Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.
And, their infants, shall be dashed to the ground, before their eyes, —Plundered shall be, their houses, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.
Behold me! stirring up against them the Medes, —Who of silver, shall take no account, And as for gold, they shall not delight in it;
18 Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.
And, bows, shall dash the young to pieces, —And on the fruit of the womb, will they have no pity, Over children, will their eye throw no shield.
19 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Thus shall Babylon—The most lovely of kingdoms, The majestic beauty of the Chaldees—Become as in the divine overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
It shall not be dwelt in for ever, Neither shall it be inhabited from generation to generation, —Neither shall encamp there, an Arab, Nor, shepherds, fold their flocks there.
21 But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.
Then shall lie down there, wild beasts, And filled shall be their houses with owls, —Then shall inhabit there, the ostrich, And shaggy creatures, shall dance there.
22 Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
And jackals shall answer, in their citadels, And wild dogs, in their voluptuous palaces, —And near to come is her time, And, her days, shall not be delayed.