1 An Oracle Concerning Babylon The 13:1 Or burden of oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld.
2 Lift up a standard on the 13:2 Or wind-swept mountain bare hill,Heighten your voice at them,Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My set apart ones,I have even called My mighty warriors,My 13:3 Lit lofty pride, cf. 13:11 proudly exulting ones,ToexecuteMy anger.
4 A sound of tumult on the mountains,Like that of many people!A sound of the rumbling of kingdoms,Of nations gathered together!Yahweh of hosts is mustering the host for battle.
5 They are coming from a far country,From the end of the sky,Yahweh and His instruments of indignation,To wreak destructiononthe whole land.
6 Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near!It will come as destruction from 13:6Heb Shaddai the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp,And every man’s heart will melt.
8 They will be terrified,Pains and labor pangs will take hold ofthem;They will writhe like a woman in labor,They will look at one another in astonishment,Their faces aflame.
9 Behold, the day of Yahweh is coming,Cruel, with fury and burning anger,To make the land a desolation;And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellationsWill not flash forth their light;The sun will be dark when it risesAnd the moon will not shed its light.
11 Thus I will punish the world for its evilAnd the wicked for their iniquity;I will also put an end to the pride of the arrogantAnd bring low the lofty pride of the 13:11 Or tyrants, despots ruthless.
12 I will make mortal man 13:12 Lit more precious scarcer than fine goldAnd mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,And the earth will be shaken from its placeAt the fury of Yahweh of hostsIn the day of His burning anger.
14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,Or like sheep with none to gatherthem,They will each turn to his own people,And each one flee to his own land.
15 Anyone who is found will be pierced through,And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants also will be dashed to piecesBefore their eyes;Their houses will be plunderedAnd their wives ravished.
17 ¶Behold, I am going to awaken the Medes against them,Who will not think about silver or take pleasure in gold.
18 Andtheirbows will dash the young men to pieces,They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,Norwill their eye pity 13:18Lit sons children.
19 And it will be that Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the 13:19Lit beautiful glory honor of the Chaldeans’ pride,Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation;Nor will the 13:20Or nomad Arab pitchhistent there,Nor will shepherds maketheir flockslie down there.
21 But desert creatures will lie down there,And their houses will be full of 13:21Or howling creatures owls;Ostriches also will dwell there, and 13:21Or goat demons shaggy goats will leap there.
22 13:22 Or howling creatures And hyenas will howl in their fortified towersAnd jackals in their luxurious palaces.Herfatefultime also 13:22 Lit is near to come will soon comeAnd her days will not be prolonged.