^2 (D)Lift up a flag on the ^[a](E)bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
^(F)Wave the hand that they may ^(G)enter the doors of the nobles.
³ I have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have also called for My ^(H)warriors
Who boast in My eminence,
To execute My anger.
⁴ A ^(I)sound of a roar on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The Lord of armies is mustering the army for battle.
⁵ They are coming from a distant country,
From the ^[b](J)farthest horizons,
The Lord and the weapons of His ^(K)indignation,
To ^(L)destroy the whole land.

⁶ Wail, for the ^(M)day of the Lord is near!
It will come as ^(N)destruction from ^[c]the Almighty.
⁷ Therefore ^(O)all hands will fall limp,
And every human ^(P)heart will melt.
⁸ They will be ^(Q)terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will ^(R)writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.
⁹ Behold, ^(S)the day of the Lord 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 ^(T)stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash their light;
The ^(U)sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ So I will ^(V)punish the world for its evil
And the ^(W)wicked for their wrongdoing;
I will also put an end to the ^(X)audacity of the proud
And humiliate the ^(Y)arrogance of the ^[d](Z)tyrants.
¹² I will make mortal man ^(AA)scarcer than pure gold
And mankind than the ^(AB)gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore I will make the ^(AC)heavens tremble,
And ^(AD)the earth will be shaken from its place
At the fury of the Lord of armies
In ^(AE)the day of His burning anger.
¹⁴ And it will be that, like a hunted gazelle,
Or like ^(AF)sheep with no one to gather them,
Each of them will turn to his own people,
And each of them will flee to his own land.
¹⁵ Anyone who is found will be ^(AG)thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
¹⁶ Their ^(AH)little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives raped.

¹⁷ Behold, I am going to ^(AI)stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not value silver or ^(AJ)take pleasure in gold.
¹⁸ And their bows will ^[e]mow down the ^(AK)young men,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their ^(AL)eye pity ^[f]children.
¹⁹ And ^(AM)Babylon, the ^(AN)beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God ^(AO)overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
²⁰ It will ^(AP)never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the ^(AQ)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds allow their flocks to lie down there.
²¹ But ^(AR)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of ^[g]owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and ^[h]shaggy goats will frolic there.
^22 [i]Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious ^(AS)palaces.
Her fateful time also ^[j]will soon come,
And her days will not be prolonged.