Isaiah 13
Christian Standard Bible
A Pronouncement against Babylon
13 A pronouncement(A) concerning Babylon(B) that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 Lift up a banner on a barren mountain.(C)
Call out to them.
Signal with your hand, and they will go
through the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my consecrated ones;
yes, I have called my warriors,
who celebrate my triumph,
to execute my wrath.(D)
4 Listen, a commotion on the mountains,
like that of a mighty people!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations being gathered together!
The Lord of Armies is mobilizing an army for war.
5 They are coming from a distant land,
from the farthest horizon—
the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—
to destroy the whole country.[a]
6 Wail! For the day of the Lord is near.(E)
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.(F)
7 Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,
and every man will lose heart.
8 They will be horrified;
pain and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.(G)
They will look at each other,
their faces flushed with fear.
9 Look, the day(H) of the Lord is coming—
cruel, with fury and burning anger—
to make the earth a desolation
and to destroy its sinners.(I)
10 Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations[b]
will not give their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will not shine.(J)
11 I will punish the world for its evil,(K)
and wicked people for their iniquities.
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant(L)
and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.
12 I will make a human more scarce than fine gold,
and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.(M)
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will shake from its foundations(N)
at the wrath of the Lord of Armies,
on the day of his burning anger.
14 Like wandering gazelles
and like sheep without a shepherd,(O)
each one will turn to his own people,
each one will flee to his own land.
15 Whoever is found will be stabbed,
and whoever is caught will die by the sword.
16 Their children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;(P)
their houses will be looted,
and their wives raped.
17 Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them,(Q)
who cannot be bought off with[c] silver
and who have no desire for gold.
18 Their bows will cut young men to pieces.
They will have no compassion on offspring;
they will not look with pity on children.
19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,
the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.(R)
20 It will never be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation;(S)
a nomad will not pitch his tent there,
and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.
21 But desert creatures will lie down there,
and owls will fill the houses.
Ostriches will dwell there,
and wild goats will leap about.(T)
22 Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,
and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time is almost up;
her days are almost over.
Isaiah 13
International Standard Version
The Destruction of Babylon
13 A message[a] that Amoz’s son Isaiah received[b] about Babylon:
2 “Raise a banner on a bare hilltop!
Cry out loud to them!
Give a wave of the hand,
signaling[c] for them to enter[d]
the gates of the nobles.
3 I myself have commanded my consecrated ones;
I have also summoned my warriors,
those who rejoice in my triumph,
to carry out my angry judgments.[e]
4 “Listen! There’s a noise on the mountains
like that of a great multitude!
Listen! There’s an uproar among the kingdoms,
like that of nations massing together!
The Lord of the Heavenly Armies is mustering
an army for battle.
5 They’re coming from a faraway land,
from the distant horizon—[f]
the Lord and the weapons of his anger—
to destroy the entire land.”[g]
The Day of the Lord
6 Wail out loud, because the Day of the Lord is near.
It will come like destruction from the Almighty!
7 Because of this, every hand[h] will go limp,
and every man’s courage[i] will melt.
8 They will be terrified;
pain and anguish will seize them;
they’ll writhe like a woman in labor.
They’ll look aghast at one another;
and[j] their faces will be ablaze with fear.[k]
9 Watch out! The Day of the Lord is coming—
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger—
to turn the entire inhabited[l] earth[m] into a desolation
and to annihilate sinners[n] from it.
10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
won’t shine[o] their light;
the sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon won’t shine its light.
11 I’ll punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I’ll put an end to the pomposity of the arrogant,
and overthrow the insolence of tyrants.
12 I’ll make people scarcer[p] than pure gold,
and mankind rarer[q] than gold from Ophir.
13 Therefore I’ll make the heavens tremble.
The earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
at the time[r] of his burning anger.[s]
14 They[t] will be like a hunted gazelle,
or like sheep with no one to gather them,[u]
each will turn to his own people,
and each will flee to his own land.
15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through,
and whoever is caught will fall dead, killed[v] by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces
before their eyes,
and[w] their houses will be looted,
and their wives slept with.[x]
Babylon Falls
17 Watch out! I’m stirring up the Medes against them,
who care nothing for silver
and take no delight in gold.
18 Their bows will dash the young men to pieces;
they’ll show no pity on those not yet born,[y]
and[z] their eyes will not spare children.
19 Babylon, that jewel of kingdoms,
the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah,
when God overthrew them—
20 It will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations;
no Bedouin[aa] will pitch his tent there;
no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
21 But desert beasts will lie down there,
and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
there owls[ab] will dwell,
and goat-demons[ac] will dance there.
22 Hyenas will howl in its strongholds,[ad]
and jackals will make their dens in its citadels.[ae]
Its[af] time is close at hand,
and its days will not be extended any further.[ag]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 13:1 Lit. An oracle
- Isaiah 13:1 Lit. saw
- Isaiah 13:2 The Heb. lacks signaling
- Isaiah 13:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads for them to enter; LXX lacks to enter
- Isaiah 13:3 Lit. my anger
- Isaiah 13:5 Lit. end of the heavens
- Isaiah 13:5 Or earth
- Isaiah 13:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads all hands
- Isaiah 13:7 Lit. heart
- Isaiah 13:8 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; 4QIsaa 4QIsab MT lack and
- Isaiah 13:8 DSS MT lack with fear
- Isaiah 13:9 So LXX; 1QIsaa lacks the entire inhabited; the Heb. lacks entire inhabited
- Isaiah 13:9 LXX lacks earth
- Isaiah 13:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; 4QIsaa 4QIsab MT read its sinners
- Isaiah 13:10 So 1QIsaa; MT reads beam
- Isaiah 13:12 Lit. people more precious
- Isaiah 13:12 1QIsaa MT lack rarer
- Isaiah 13:13 Lit. in the day
- Isaiah 13:13 Lit. nostrils
- Isaiah 13:14 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads it
- Isaiah 13:14 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsaa reads banished
- Isaiah 13:15 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks dead, killed
- Isaiah 13:16 So 1QIsaa Syr; cf. LXX; 4QIsaa MT lack and
- Isaiah 13:16 So 1QIsaa MTqere; 4QIsaa MT read raped; LXX reads they will take; cf. Deut 28:30
- Isaiah 13:18 Lit. on the fruit of the womb
- Isaiah 13:18 So 1QIsaa MTmss LXX; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 13:20 I.e. Middle Eastern nomadic herders; or Arab
- Isaiah 13:21 Or ostriches
- Isaiah 13:21 Or satyrs; or wild goats
- Isaiah 13:22 Lit. desolate places
- Isaiah 13:22 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads in the citadels of luxury
- Isaiah 13:22 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads And its
- Isaiah 13:22 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack any further
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