Isaiah 13-15 (New American Standard Bible)

Isaiah 13

Prophecies about Babylon

 ¹The ^(A)oracle concerning ^(B)Babylon which ^(C)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
    ^2(D)Lift up a standard 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.
    ³I have commanded My consecrated ones,
         I have even called My ^(H)mighty warriors,
         My proudly exulting ones,
         To execute My anger.
    ⁴A ^(I)sound of tumult on the mountains,
         Like that of many people!
         A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,
         Of nations gathered together!
         The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle.
    ⁵They are coming from a far country,
         From the ^(J)farthest horizons,
         The LORD and His instruments of ^(K)indignation,
         To ^(L)destroy the whole land.

Judgment on the Day of the LORD

    ⁶Wail, for the ^(M)day of the LORD is near!
         It will come as ^(N)destruction from the Almighty.
    ⁷Therefore ^(O)all hands will fall limp,
         And every man's ^(P)heart will melt.
    ⁸They 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.
    ⁹Behold, ^(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.
    ¹⁰For the ^(T)stars of heaven and their constellations
         Will not flash forth their light;
         The ^(U)sun will be dark when it rises
         And the moon will not shed its light.
    ¹¹Thus I will ^(V)punish the world for its evil
         And the ^(W)wicked for their iniquity;
         I will also put an end to the ^(X)arrogance of the proud
         And abase the ^(Y)haughtiness of the ^(Z)ruthless.
    ¹²I will make mortal man ^(AA)scarcer than pure gold
         And mankind than the ^(AB)gold of Ophir.
    ¹³Therefore I will make the ^(AC)heavens tremble,
         And ^(AD)the earth will be shaken from its place
         At the fury of the LORD of hosts
         In ^(AE)the day of His burning anger.
    ¹⁴And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,
         Or like ^(AF)sheep with none to gather them,
         They will each turn to his own people,
         And each one flee to his own land.
    ¹⁵Anyone who is found will be ^(AG)thrust through,
         And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
    ¹⁶Their ^(AH)little ones also will be dashed to pieces
         Before their eyes;
         Their houses will be plundered
         And their wives ravished.

Babylon Will Fall to the Medes

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

Isaiah 14

Israel's Taunt

 ¹When the LORD will ^(AT)have compassion on Jacob and again ^(AU)choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then ^(AV)strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

 ²The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the ^(AW)house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the LORD ^(AX)as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.

 ³And it will be in the day when the LORD gives you ^(AY)rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved,

 ⁴that you will ^(AZ)take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
         "How ^(BA)the oppressor has ceased,
         And how fury has ceased!
    ⁵"The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
         The scepter of rulers
    ^6(BB)Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
         Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.
    ⁷"The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
         They ^(BC)break forth into shouts of joy.
    ⁸"Even the ^(BD)cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
         'Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.'
    ⁹"^(BE)Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come;
         It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth;
         It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
    ¹⁰"^(BF)They will all respond and say to you,
         'Even you have been made weak as we,
         You have become like us.
    ¹¹'Your ^(BG)pomp and the music of your harps
         Have been brought down to Sheol;
         Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you
         And worms are your covering.'
    ¹²"How you have ^(BH)fallen from heaven,
         O ^(BI)star of the morning, son of the dawn!
         You have been cut down to the earth,
         You who have weakened the nations!
    ¹³"But you said in your heart,
         'I will ^(BJ)ascend to heaven;
         I will ^(BK)raise my throne above the stars of God,
         And I will sit on the mount of assembly
         In the recesses of the north.
    ¹⁴'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
         ^(BL)I will make myself like the Most High.'
    ¹⁵"Nevertheless you ^(BM)will be thrust down to Sheol,
         To the recesses of the pit.
    ¹⁶"Those who see you will gaze at you,
         They will ponder over you, saying,
         'Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
         Who shook kingdoms,
    ¹⁷Who made the world like a ^(BN)wilderness
         And overthrew its cities,
         Who ^(BO)did not allow his prisoners to go home?'
    ¹⁸"All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
         Each in his own tomb.
    ¹⁹"But you have been ^(BP)cast out of your tomb
         Like a rejected branch,
         Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword,
         Who go down to the stones of the ^(BQ)pit
         Like a ^(BR)trampled corpse.
    ²⁰"You will not be united with them in burial,
         Because you have ruined your country,
         You have slain your people.
         May the ^(BS)offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever.
    ²¹"Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter
         Because of the ^(BT)iniquity of their fathers.
         They must not arise and take possession of the earth
         And fill the face of the world with cities."

 ²²"I will rise up against them," declares the LORD of hosts, "and will cut off from Babylon ^(BU)name and survivors, ^(BV)offspring and posterity," declares the LORD.

 ²³"I will also make it a possession for the ^(BW)hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of ^(BX)destruction," declares the LORD of hosts.

Judgment on Assyria

 ²⁴The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, "Surely, ^(BY)just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand,

 ²⁵to ^(BZ)break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains Then his ^(CA)yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder.

 ²⁶"This is the ^(CB)plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the ^(CC)hand that is stretched out against all the nations.

 ²⁷"For ^(CD)the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?"

 ²⁸In the ^(CE)year that King Ahaz died this ^(CF)oracle came:

Judgment on Philistia

    ²⁹"Do not rejoice, O ^(CG)Philistia, all of you,
         Because the rod that ^(CH)struck you is broken;
         For from the serpent's root a ^(CI)viper will come out,
         And its fruit will be a ^(CJ)flying serpent.
    ³⁰"Those who are most ^(CK)helpless will eat,
         And the needy will lie down in security;
         I will destroy your root with ^(CL)famine,
         And it will kill off your survivors.
    ³¹"Wail, O ^(CM)gate; cry, O city;
         Melt away, O ^(CN)Philistia, all of you;
         For smoke comes from the ^(CO)north,
         And ^(CP)there is no straggler in his ranks.
    ³²"How then will one answer the ^(CQ)messengers of the nation?
         That ^(CR)the LORD has founded Zion,
         And ^(CS)the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it."

Isaiah 15

Judgment on Moab

 ¹The oracle concerning ^(CT)Moab
         Surely in a night ^(CU)Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;
         Surely in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.
    ²They have gone up to the temple and to ^(CV)Dibon, even to the high places to weep
         Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;
         Everyone's head is ^(CW)bald and every beard is cut off.
    ³In their streets they have girded themselves with ^(CX)sackcloth;
         ^(CY)On their housetops and in their squares
         Everyone is wailing, ^(CZ)dissolved in tears.
    ^4(DA)Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out,
         Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz;
         Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
         His soul trembles within him.
    ⁵My heart cries out for Moab;
         His fugitives are as far as ^(DB)Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah,
         For they go up the ^(DC)ascent of Luhith weeping;
         Surely on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress ^(DD)over their ruin.
    ⁶For the ^(DE)waters of Nimrim are desolate
         Surely the grass is withered, the tender grass died out,
         There is ^(DF)no green thing.
    ⁷Therefore the ^(DG)abundance which they have acquired and stored up
         They carry off over the brook of Arabim.
    ⁸For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab,
         Its wail goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim.
    ⁹For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;
         Surely I will bring added woes upon Dimon,
         A ^(DH)lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon the remnant of the land.