Isaiah 13
English Standard Version
The Judgment of Babylon
13 The oracle concerning (A)Babylon which (B)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2 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.
3 I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
my proudly exulting ones.[a]
4 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.
5 (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]
6 (H)Wail, for (I)the day of the Lord is near;
as destruction from the Almighty[c] it will come!
7 Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every human heart (J)will melt.
8 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.
9 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.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 13:3 Or those who exult in my majesty
- Isaiah 13:5 Or earth; also verse 9
- Isaiah 13:6 The Hebrew words for destruction and almighty sound alike
- Isaiah 13:18 Hebrew dash in pieces
- Isaiah 13:21 Or owls
- Isaiah 13:22 Or foxes
Yeshayah 13
Orthodox Jewish Bible
13 The massa (burden) of Bavel (Babylon), which Yeshayah Ben Amotz did see.
2 Lift ye up a nes upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the yad, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My Mekuddash, I have also summoned My Gibbor for Mine anger, even them that rejoice in My highness.
4 The noise of a hamon (multitude) in the harim (mountains), like as of an Am Rav; a tumultuous noise of the mamlechot (kingdoms) of Goyim gathered together; Hashem Tzva’os mustereth the Tzava (army) of the milchamah (battle, war).
5 They come from an eretz merchak (a far country), from the end of Shomayim, Hashem, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy Kol HaAretz.
6 Wail ye; for the Yom Hashem is karov (near); it shall come like shod (sudden destruction) from Shaddai.
7 Therefore shall kol yadayim (all hands) fall weak, and kol levav enosh shall melt;
8 And they shall be afraid; pangs and chavalim (pains) shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain like a woman that travaileth in childbirth; one shall be aghast at his re’a; their faces shall be like flaming visages.
9 Hinei, the Yom Hashem cometh, cruel both with wrath and charon af (fierce anger), to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the chatta’im (sinners) thereof out of it.
10 For the kokhavim of Shomayim and the constellations thereof shall not give their ohr (light); the shemesh shall be darkened in its rising and the yarei’ach shall not cause its ohr to shine.
11 And I will punish the tevel (world) for ra’ah, and the resha’im for their avon (iniquity); and I will cause the ga’on (arrogance) of the proud to cease, and will lay low the ga’avah (pride) of the tyrant.
12 I will make enosh more rare than rare gold; even adam than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake Shomayim, and Ha’Aretz (the Earth) shall move out of her makom (place), in the evrat Hashem Tzva’os, and in His Yom Charon Af.
14 And it shall be like deer chased, and like tzon not gathered; each ish turning to his people, and each fleeing to his own land.
15 Every one that is found yidaker (shall be pierced through, see Zech 12:10 for this same word and Moshiach); and every one that is caught shall fall by the cherev.
16 Their olelim (infants) also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their batim (houses) shall be looted, and their nashim ravished.
17 Hineni, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard kesef; and as for zahav, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their keshatot (bows) also shall tear ne’arim (young men) to pieces; and they shall have no rachamim on the pri beten (fruit of the womb); their eyes shall not pity banim.
19 And Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the tiferet ga’on Kasdim, shall be as when Elohim overthrew S’dom and Amora (Gomorrah).
20 Lo lanetzach (not ever) shall it be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in ad dor vador; neither shall the Arab pitch ohel there; neither shall the ro’im rest their flock there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their batim (houses) shall be full of owls; and ostriches shall dwell there, and demons shall dance there.
22 And the wild beasts shall howl in their strongholds, and jackals in their heichalot (palaces) of oneg (delight); and her (Babylon’s) time is karov (near, at hand) to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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