Isaiah 13

A Pronouncement against Babylon

¹A pronouncement ^a concerning Babylon ^b that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

²Lift up a banner on a barren mountain. ^c

Call out to them.

Signal with your hand, and they will go

through the gates of the nobles.

³I have commanded my consecrated ones;

yes, I have called my warriors,

who celebrate my triumph,

to execute my wrath. ^d

⁴Listen, a commotion on the mountains,

like that of a mighty people!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,

like nations being gathered together!

The Lord of Armies is mobilizing an army for war.

⁵They are coming from a distant land,

from the farthest horizon —

the Lord and the weapons of his wrath —

to destroy the whole country. ^e

⁶Wail! For the day of the Lord is near. ^f

It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ^g

⁷Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,

and every man will lose heart.

⁸They will be horrified;

pain and agony will seize them;

they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. ^h

They will look at each other,

their faces flushed with fear.

⁹Look, the day ⁱ of the Lord is coming —

cruel, with fury and burning anger —

to make the earth a desolation

and to destroy its sinners. ^j

¹⁰Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations ^k

will not give their light.

The sun will be dark when it rises,

and the moon will not shine. ^l

¹¹I will punish the world for its evil, ^m

and wicked people for their iniquities.

I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant ⁿ

and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.

¹²I will make a human more scarce than fine gold,

and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir. ^o

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,

and the earth will shake from its foundations ^p

at the wrath of the Lord of Armies,

on the day of his burning anger.

¹⁴Like wandering gazelles

and like sheep without a shepherd, ^q

each one will turn to his own people,

each one will flee to his own land.

¹⁵Whoever is found will be stabbed,

and whoever is caught will die by the sword.

¹⁶Their children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; ^r

their houses will be looted,

and their wives raped.

¹⁷Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them, ^s

who cannot be bought off with ^t silver

and who have no desire for gold.

¹⁸Their bows will cut young men to pieces.

They will have no compassion on offspring;

they will not look with pity on children.

¹⁹And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,

the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,

will be like Sodom and Gomorrah

when God overthrew them. ^u

²⁰It will never be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation; ^v

a nomad will not pitch his tent there,

and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.

²¹But desert creatures will lie down there,

and owls will fill the houses.

Ostriches will dwell there,

and wild goats will leap about. ^w

²²Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,

and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.

Babylon’s time is almost up;

her days are almost over.