Isaiah 13

A Prophecy Against Babylon

¹A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

²Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,

shout to them;

beckon to them

to enter the gates of the nobles.

³I have commanded those I prepared for battle;

I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—

those who rejoice in my triumph.

⁴Listen, a noise on the mountains,

like that of a great multitude!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,

like nations massing together!

The Lord Almighty is mustering

an army for war.

⁵They come from faraway lands,

from the ends of the heavens—

the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—

to destroy the whole country.

⁶Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;

it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

⁷Because of this, all hands will go limp,

every heart will melt with fear.

⁸Terror will seize them,

pain and anguish will grip them;

they will writhe like a woman in labor.

They will look aghast at each other,

their faces aflame.

⁹See, the day of the Lord is coming

—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—

to make the land desolate

and destroy the sinners within it.

¹⁰The stars of heaven and their constellations

will not show their light.

The rising sun will be darkened

and the moon will not give its light.

¹¹I will punish the world for its evil,

the wicked for their sins.

I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty

and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

¹²I will make people scarcer than pure gold,

more rare than the gold of Ophir.

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;

and the earth will shake from its place

at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,

in the day of his burning anger.

¹⁴Like a hunted gazelle,

like sheep without a shepherd,

they will all return to their own people,

they will flee to their native land.

¹⁵Whoever is captured will be thrust through;

all who are caught will fall by the sword.

¹⁶Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;

their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

¹⁷See, I will stir up against them the Medes,

who do not care for silver

and have no delight in gold.

¹⁸Their bows will strike down the young men;

they will have no mercy on infants,

nor will they look with compassion on children.

¹⁹Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,

the pride and glory of the Babylonians,

will be overthrown by God

like Sodom and Gomorrah.

²⁰She will never be inhabited

or lived in through all generations;

there no nomads will pitch their tents,

there no shepherds will rest their flocks.

²¹But desert creatures will lie there,

jackals will fill her houses;

there the owls will dwell,

and there the wild goats will leap about.

²²Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,

jackals her luxurious palaces.

Her time is at hand,

and her days will not be prolonged.