Isaiah 13:11-22

Good News Translation

¹¹The Lord says, “I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. ¹²Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. ¹³I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the Lord Almighty, show my anger.

¹⁴“The foreigners living in Babylon will run away to their homelands, scattering like deer escaping from hunters, like sheep without a shepherd. ¹⁵Anyone who is caught will be stabbed to death. ¹⁶While they look on helplessly, their babies will be battered to death, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.”

¹⁷The Lord says, “I am stirring up the Medes^[a] to attack Babylon. They care nothing for silver and are not tempted by gold. ¹⁸With their bows and arrows they will kill the young men. They will show no mercy to babies and take no pity on children. ¹⁹^(A)Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all; it is the pride of its people. But I, the Lord, will overthrow Babylon as I did Sodom and Gomorrah! ²⁰No one will ever live there again. No wandering Arab will ever pitch a tent there, and no shepherd will ever pasture a flock there. ²¹^(B)It will be a place where desert animals live and where owls build their nests. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will prance through the ruins. ²²The towers and palaces will echo with the cries of hyenas and jackals. Babylon's time has come! Her days are almost over.”