Isaiah 13

1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:

2 Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.

4 Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

5 They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.

6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.

8 Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

9 Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it.

10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.

11 I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.

12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger.

14 Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.

15 Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword.

16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.

17 Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.

18 Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.

19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

20 She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.

21 But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.

22 Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.

1 ¶ The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, [even] them that rejoice in my highness.

4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like 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.

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.

6 ¶ Howl ye; for the day of the LORD [is] at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:

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.

9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

11 And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

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.

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 into his own land.

15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined [unto them] shall fall by the sword.

16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and [as for] gold, they shall not delight in 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.

19 ¶ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew 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.

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.

22 And the wild beasts of the islands 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.

1 This is the burden over Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:

2 Cast up your banners upon the high mountains; cry out against them with confidence; lift up your hands, let them enter in through the gates of the princes.

2 And the nations shall receive them, and bring them into their place, and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for bondmen and bondwomen: and they shall take them captives of whom they were captives, and shall rule over their beaters.

3 I have commanded my holy ones, and called my strong ones to my wrath, which rejoice in my glory.

4 There is a shout of a multitude upon the mountains, as of a great people; a shout as of a tumult of the kingdoms of the heathen gathered together. The LORD of hosts maketh ready an army to battle,

5 Who come from far countries, from the end of heaven, even the LORD himself, with the witness of his wrath, to destroy the whole land.

6 Hasten: for the day of the LORD is at hand; it cometh as a desolation from the Almighty.

7 Therefore shall all hands be idle, and all men's hearts shall be cowardly.

8 Terrors, and fears, and sorrows, shall come upon them: they shall be as afraid as a woman in childbirth: one shall be afraid of another: their faces shall be red with fire.

9 For, behold, the day of the LORD cometh cruelly, wrathfully, fiercely, to destroy the land, and to cut off sinners out of it.

10 For the stars of heaven and his Orion shine not brightly: the sun riseth darkly, and the moon seemeth dim.

11 I will punish the earth for its wickedness, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will put an end to the pride of the proud, and will humble the arrogance of the mighty,

12 That a man should be more precious than fine gold, and a man more precious than gold pieces of Ophir.

13 Therefore will I move heaven, and the earth shall shake out of her place with the fury of the LORD of hosts, and with the day of his wrath.

14 And she shall be as a roe deer driven away, and as a flock without a shepherd: and every man shall return to his own people, and every man shall flee to his own land,

15 Because he that is found there shall be stabbed, and he that is found there shall fall by the sword.

16 Their children also shall be broken in pieces before their eyes, and their houses plundered, and their wives ravished.

17 For, behold, I will raise up the Medes upon them, which seek not silver, nor ask for gold,

18 But to shoot the young men with bows, and not to have mercy on the fruit of the womb, nor to spare the children.

19 So Babylon, the most beautiful of kingdoms, the glorious splendor of the Chaldeans, shall be turned back from God, as Sodom and Gomorrah,

20 That they dwell therein no more, neither abide therein any more, neither do the Arabians make tents there, nor do the shepherds put up fences there,

21 But zihim shall encamp there, and their houses shall be full of ohim, and ostriches shall dwell there, and spirits of the field shall leap there,

22 And owls shall sing in their palaces, and dragons in the merry castles. And their time shall come sheerly, and their days shall not tarry. Ch. 14, v. 1: For the LORD will have mercy upon Jacob, and will choose Israel yet more, and will set them in their own land. And strangers shall join themselves unto them, and cleave unto the house of Jacob.