Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
This is the message Isaiah, son of Amoz, received about Babylon.
2 Lift up a banner upon a bare mountain, raise the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
Set up a banner on a bare hilltop; shout out to them; wave your hand to encourage them to enter the palaces of princes.
3 I have commanded my hallowed ones, I have also called my mighty men for mine anger, them that rejoice in my highness.
I have ordered the ones I have chosen to attack; I have called my warriors to execute my furious judgment and to celebrate my triumph.
4 The noise of a multitude on the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations assembled together: Jehovah of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
A noise comes from the mountains, sounding like that of a huge crowd! It's the roaring sound from the kingdoms, from nations gathering together! The Lord Almighty is calling up an army for war.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of the heavens — Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation — to destroy the whole land.
They are coming from distant lands, from beyond the far horizons—the Lord and the weapons of his fury—coming to destroy the whole country.
6 Howl, for the day of Jehovah is at hand; it cometh as destruction from the Almighty.
Howl in fear, for the day of the Lord is approaching—the time when the Almighty destroys.
7 Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt,
Everyone's hands will fall limp, and everyone will lose their minds in panic.
8 and they shall be terrified: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall writhe as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames.
They will be terrified; pain and anguish will seize them; they will suffer like a woman giving birth. They will look in shock at each other, their faces burning in fear.
9 Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the earth desolate; and he will destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Look! The day of the Lord is coming—cruel, with fury and fierce anger—to devastate the land and to wipe out its sinners.
10 For the stars of the heavens 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.
The stars in the constellations of heaven above will not shine. When the sun rises it will stay dark. The moon will give no light.
11 And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will make the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will bring low the haughtiness of the violent.
I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their sin, says the Lord. I will put an end to the conceit of the arrogant, and I will humiliate tyrants and their pride.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even man than the gold of Ophir.
I will make people scarcer than pure gold, rarer than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens to shake, and the earth shall be removed out of her place, at the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
So I will shake the heavens and make the earth jump out of its place because of the fury of the Lord Almighty, at the time when his anger burns.
14 And it shall be as with a chased roe, and as with a flock that no man gathereth together; every one shall turn to his own people, and every one flee into his own land.
Like a gazelle being hunted, or like sheep without a shepherd, the Babylonians will return to their own people, they will run away to their own land.
15 All that are found shall be thrust through; and every one that is in league [with them] shall fall by the sword.
Anyone who is captured will be stabbed to death; anyone who is caught will be killed by the sword.
16 And their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be rifled, and their women ravished.
Their little children will be dashed to pieces as they watch, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who do not regard silver, and as for gold, they have no delight in it.
I'm going to get the Medes to attack them, people who don't care about silver or gold.
18 And [their] bows 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.
Their bows will slaughter their young men; they will show no mercy to babies; they will have no pity on children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Babylon, the most marvelous city of any kingdom, the greatest pride of the Babylonian people, will be demolished by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in, even to generation and generation; nor shall Arabian pitch tent there, nor shepherds make fold there.
No one will ever live in Babylon again. It will be deserted—no desert nomad will set up a tent there, no shepherd will bring a flock to rest there.
21 But beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of owls; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.
Only desert animals will make their homes there, and the ruined houses will be inhabited by wild dogs. Owls will live there, and wild goats will leap around.
22 And jackals shall cry to one another in their palaces, and wild dogs in the pleasant castles. And her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her lavish palaces. Babylon's time is coming soon—they will not last much longer.
