Isaiah 13:1-11

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

² On a bare hill raise a signal,
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for them to enter
    the gates of the nobles.
³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
    have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones,
    to execute my anger.

⁴ Listen, a tumult on the mountains
    as of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar of kingdoms,
    of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering
    an army for battle.
⁵ They come from a distant land,
    from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
    to destroy the whole earth.

⁶ Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
    it will come like destruction from the Almighty!^[a]
7 Therefore all hands will be feeble,
    and every human heart will melt,
⁸     and they will be dismayed.
Pangs and agony will seize them;
    they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
    their faces will be aflame.
⁹ See, the day of the Lord comes,
    cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the earth a desolation,
    and to destroy its sinners from it.
¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
    will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
    and the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil,
    and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,
    and lay low the insolence of tyrants.