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A Message about Babylon

13 Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon:

“Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop.
    Call up an army against Babylon.
Wave your hand to encourage them
    as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty.
I, the Lord, have dedicated these soldiers for this task.
    Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger,
    and they will rejoice when I am exalted.”

Hear the noise on the mountains!
    Listen, as the vast armies march!
It is the noise and shouting of many nations.
    The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has called this army together.
They come from distant countries,
    from beyond the farthest horizons.
They are the Lord’s weapons to carry out his anger.
    With them he will destroy the whole land.

Scream in terror, for the day of the Lord has arrived—
    the time for the Almighty to destroy.
Every arm is paralyzed with fear.
    Every heart melts,
    and people are terrified.
Pangs of anguish grip them,
    like those of a woman in labor.
They look helplessly at one another,
    their faces aflame with fear.

For see, the day of the Lord is coming—
    the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger.
The land will be made desolate,
    and all the sinners destroyed with it.
10 The heavens will be black above them;
    the stars will give no light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
    and the moon will provide no light.

11 “I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil
    and the wicked for their sin.
I will crush the arrogance of the proud
    and humble the pride of the mighty.
12 I will make people scarcer than gold—
    more rare than the fine gold of Ophir.
13 For I will shake the heavens.
    The earth will move from its place
when the Lord of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath
    in the day of his fierce anger.”

14 Everyone in Babylon will run about like a hunted gazelle,
    like sheep without a shepherd.
They will try to find their own people
    and flee to their own land.
15 Anyone who is captured will be cut down—
    run through with a sword.
16 Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes.
    Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped.

17 “Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon.
    They cannot be tempted by silver
    or bribed with gold.
18 The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows.
    They will have no mercy on helpless babies
    and will show no compassion for children.”

19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms,
    the flower of Chaldean pride,
will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God destroyed them.
20 Babylon will never be inhabited again.
    It will remain empty for generation after generation.
Nomads will refuse to camp there,
    and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.
21 Desert animals will move into the ruined city,
    and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures.
Owls will live among the ruins,
    and wild goats will go there to dance.
22 Hyenas will howl in its fortresses,
    and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s days are numbered;
    its time of destruction will soon arrive.

A Taunt for Babylon’s King

14 But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.[a] The nations of the world will help the people of Israel to return, and those who come to live in the Lord’s land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies.

In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say,

“The mighty man has been destroyed.
    Yes, your insolence[b] is ended.
For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
    and broken your evil rule.
You struck the people with endless blows of rage
    and held the nations in your angry grip
    with unrelenting tyranny.
But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
    Now it can sing again!
Even the trees of the forest—
    the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
    sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
    no one will come now to cut us down!’

“In the place of the dead[c] there is excitement
    over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
    stand up to see you.
10 With one voice they all cry out,
    ‘Now you are as weak as we are!
11 Your might and power were buried with you.[d]
    The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
    and worms your blanket.’

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
    O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
    you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13 For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north.[e]
14 I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High.’
15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
    down to its lowest depths.
16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
    and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
17 Is this the one who destroyed the world
    and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities
    and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

18 “The kings of the nations lie in stately glory,
    each in his own tomb,
19 but you will be thrown out of your grave
    like a worthless branch.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
    you will be dumped into a mass grave
    with those killed in battle.
You will descend to the pit.
20     You will not be given a proper burial,
for you have destroyed your nation
    and slaughtered your people.
The descendants of such an evil person
    will never again receive honor.
21 Kill this man’s children!
    Let them die because of their father’s sins!
They must not rise and conquer the earth,
    filling the world with their cities.”

22 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
    “I, myself, have risen against Babylon!
I will destroy its children and its children’s children,”
    says the Lord.
23 “I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls,
    filled with swamps and marshes.
I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction.
    I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

A Message about Assyria

24 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath:

“It will all happen as I have planned.
    It will be as I have decided.
25 I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel;
    I will trample them on my mountains.
My people will no longer be their slaves
    nor bow down under their heavy loads.
26 I have a plan for the whole earth,
    a hand of judgment upon all the nations.
27 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken—
    who can change his plans?
When his hand is raised,
    who can stop him?”

A Message about Philistia

28 This message came to me the year King Ahaz died:[f]

29 Do not rejoice, you Philistines,
    that the rod that struck you is broken—
    that the king who attacked you is dead.
For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born,
    a fiery serpent to destroy you!
30 I will feed the poor in my pasture;
    the needy will lie down in peace.
But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine
    and destroy the few who remain.
31 Wail at the gates! Weep in the cities!
    Melt with fear, you Philistines!
A powerful army comes like smoke from the north.
    Each soldier rushes forward eager to fight.

32 What should we tell the Philistine messengers? Tell them,

“The Lord has built Jerusalem[g];
    its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people.”

A Message about Moab

15 This message came to me concerning Moab:

In one night the town of Ar will be leveled,
    and the city of Kir will be destroyed.
Your people will go to their temple in Dibon to mourn.
    They will go to their sacred shrines to weep.
They will wail for the fate of Nebo and Medeba,
    shaving their heads in sorrow and cutting off their beards.
They will wear burlap as they wander the streets.
    From every home and public square will come the sound of wailing.
The people of Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out;
    their voices will be heard as far away as Jahaz!
The bravest warriors of Moab will cry out in utter terror.
    They will be helpless with fear.

My heart weeps for Moab.
    Its people flee to Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah.
Weeping, they climb the road to Luhith.
    Their cries of distress can be heard all along the road to Horonaim.
Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up!
    The grassy banks are scorched.
The tender plants are gone;
    nothing green remains.
The people grab their possessions
    and carry them across the Ravine of Willows.
A cry of distress echoes through the land of Moab
    from one end to the other—
    from Eglaim to Beer-elim.
The stream near Dibon[h] runs red with blood,
    but I am still not finished with Dibon!
Lions will hunt down the survivors—
    both those who try to escape
    and those who remain behind.

Footnotes

  1. 14:1 Hebrew the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
  2. 14:4 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; the meaning of the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  3. 14:9 Hebrew Sheol; also in 14:15.
  4. 14:11 Hebrew were brought down to Sheol.
  5. 14:13 Or on the heights of Zaphon.
  6. 14:28 King Ahaz died in 715 B.c.
  7. 14:32 Hebrew Zion.
  8. 15:9 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, some Greek manuscripts, and Latin Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads Dimon; also in 15:9b.

The Judgment of Babylon

13 The oracle concerning (A)Babylon which (B)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

On a bare hill (C)raise a signal;
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for (D)them to enter
    the gates of the nobles.
I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
    and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
    my proudly exulting ones.[a]

The sound (E)of a tumult is on the mountains
    as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
    of nations gathering together!
(F)The Lord of hosts is mustering
    a host for battle.
(G)They come from a distant land,
    from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
    to destroy the whole land.[b]

(H)Wail, for (I)the day of the Lord is near;
    as destruction from the Almighty[c] it will come!
Therefore all hands will be feeble,
    and every human heart (J)will melt.
They will be dismayed:
    (K)pangs and agony will seize them;
    (L)they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
    their faces will be aflame.

Behold, (M)the day of the Lord comes,
    cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
    and (N)to destroy its sinners from it.
10 (O)For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
    will not give their light;
(P)the sun will be dark at its rising,
    and the moon will not shed its light.
11 I will punish (Q)the world for its evil,
    and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will (R)put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
    (S)and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make (T)people more rare than fine gold,
    and mankind than the (U)gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore (V)I will make the heavens tremble,
    and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    in the day of his fierce anger.
14 And like a hunted gazelle,
    or like sheep with none to gather them,
(W)each will turn to his own people,
    and each will flee to his own land.
15 Whoever is found will be thrust through,
    and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16 (X)Their infants will be dashed in pieces
    before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
    and their wives ravished.

17 Behold, (Y)I am stirring up the Medes against them,
    who have no regard for silver
    and do not delight in gold.
18 (Z)Their bows will slaughter[d] the young men;
    they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
    their eyes will not pity children.
19 And Babylon, (AA)the glory of kingdoms,
    the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be (AB)like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God overthrew them.
20 (AC)It will never be inhabited
    or lived in for all generations;
no (AD)Arab will pitch his tent there;
    no (AE)shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
21 But (AF)wild animals will lie down there,
    and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
there (AG)ostriches[e] will dwell,
    and there wild goats will dance.
22 Hyenas[f] will cry in its towers,
    and (AH)jackals in (AI)the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand
    and its days will not be prolonged.

The Restoration of Jacob

14 (AJ)For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and (AK)will set them in their own land, and (AL)sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. And (AM)the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord's land (AN)as male and female slaves.[g] (AO)They will take captive those who were their captors, (AP)and rule over those who oppressed them.

Israel's Remnant Taunts Babylon

When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this (AQ)taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    (AR)the insolent fury[h] ceased!
The Lord has broken the (AS)staff of the wicked,
    the (AT)scepter of rulers,
(AU)that struck the peoples in wrath
    with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
    with unrelenting persecution.
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    (AV)they break forth into singing.
(AW)(AX)The cypresses rejoice at you,
    (AY)the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
    no woodcutter comes up against us.’
Sheol beneath is stirred up
    to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
    all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
    all who were kings of the nations.
10 (AZ)All of them will answer
    and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
    You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
    the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
    and worms are your covers.

12 “How (BA)you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, (BB)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
    (BC)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    (BD)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;[i]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 (BE)But you are brought down to Sheol,
    to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
    and ponder over you:
‘Is this (BF)the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    (BG)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;[j]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
(BH)clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
    who go down to the stones of the pit,
    like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
    because you have destroyed your land,
    you have slain your people.

“May (BI)the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons
    (BJ)because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess 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 name and (BK)remnant, (BL)descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the (BM)hedgehog,[k] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

An Oracle Concerning Assyria

24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
(BN)“As I have planned,
    so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
    so shall it stand,
25 that (BO)I will break the Assyrian in my land,
    and on my mountains trample him underfoot;
and (BP)his yoke shall depart from them,
    and (BQ)his burden from their shoulder.”

26 This is the purpose that is purposed
    concerning the whole earth,
and this is (BR)the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
27 (BS)For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
    and who will annul it?
(BT)His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?

An Oracle Concerning Philistia

28 In the year that (BU)King Ahaz died came this (BV)oracle:

29 Rejoice not, (BW)O Philistia, all of you,
    that (BX)the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
    and its fruit will be a (BY)flying fiery serpent.
30 And the firstborn of (BZ)the poor will graze,
    and (CA)the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
    and your remnant it will slay.
31 (CB)Wail, O (CC)gate; cry out, O city;
    melt in fear, (CD)O Philistia, all of you!
(CE)For smoke comes out of the north,
    and there is no straggler in his ranks.

32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
(CF)“The Lord has founded Zion,
    and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

An Oracle Concerning Moab

15 An (CG)oracle concerning (CH)Moab.

Because (CI)Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone;
because (CJ)Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone.
He has gone up to the temple,[l] and to (CK)Dibon,
    to the high places[m] to weep;
over (CL)Nebo and over (CM)Medeba
    Moab (CN)wails.
On every head is (CO)baldness;
    every beard is shorn;
in the streets they wear sackcloth;
    on the housetops and in the squares
    everyone wails and melts in tears.
(CP)Heshbon and (CQ)Elealeh cry out;
    their voice is heard as far as (CR)Jahaz;
therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
    his soul trembles.
My heart cries out for Moab;
    her fugitives flee to Zoar,
    to (CS)Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the (CT)ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to (CU)Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction;
the waters of (CV)Nimrim
    are a desolation;
the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
    the greenery is no more.
(CW)Therefore the abundance they have gained
    and what they have laid up
they carry away
    over the Brook of the Willows.
For a cry has gone
    around the land of Moab;
her wailing reaches to Eglaim;
    her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
For the waters of (CX)Dibon[n] are full of blood;
    for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
(CY)a lion for those of Moab who escape,
    for the remnant of the land.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 13:3 Or those who exult in my majesty
  2. Isaiah 13:5 Or earth; also verse 9
  3. Isaiah 13:6 The Hebrew words for destruction and almighty sound alike
  4. Isaiah 13:18 Hebrew dash in pieces
  5. Isaiah 13:21 Or owls
  6. Isaiah 13:22 Or foxes
  7. Isaiah 14:2 Or servants
  8. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain
  9. Isaiah 14:13 Or in the remote parts of Zaphon
  10. Isaiah 14:18 Hebrew house
  11. Isaiah 14:23 Possibly porcupine, or owl
  12. Isaiah 15:2 Hebrew the house
  13. Isaiah 15:2 Or temple, even Dibon to the high places
  14. Isaiah 15:9 Dead Sea Scroll, Vulgate (compare Syriac); Masoretic Text Dimon; twice in this verse