Isaiah 13
Revised Geneva Translation
13 The burden of Babel, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 “Lift up a standard upon the high mountain. Lift up the voice to them. Wave the hand, so that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 “I have Commanded those whom I have sanctified. And I have called the mighty to My wrath, those who rejoice in My Glory.”
4 The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, like a great people, a tumultuous voice of the kingdoms of the Nations gathered together. The LORD of Hosts numbers the army of the battle.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of the heaven, the LORD with the weapons of His wrath, to destroy the whole land.
6 Howl! For the day of the LORD is at hand! It shall come as a destroyer from the Almighty!
7 Therefore shall all hands be weakened. And all men’s hearts shall melt.
8 And they shall be afraid. Anguish and sorrow shall take them. And they shall have pain, as a woman in childbirth. Everyone shall be amazed at his neighbor, and their faces flames of fire.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land waste. And He shall destroy the sinners out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and its planets shall not give their light. The Sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 “And I will visit the wickedness upon the world, and their iniquity upon the wicked. And I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will cast down the pride of tyrants.
12 “I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man above the wedge of gold of Ophir.
13 “Therefore I will shake the heaven, and the Earth shall move out of her place in the wrath of the LORD of Hosts, and on the day of His fierce anger.
14 “And it shall be as a chased doe, and as a sheep which no man gathers. Every man shall turn to his own people and flee to his own land.
15 “Everyone who is found shall be stricken through. And whoever is caught up, shall fall by the sword.
16 “Their children also shall be broken in pieces before their eyes. Their houses shall be spoiled and their wives ravished.
17 “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, nor be desirous of gold.
18 “With bows, also, they shall destroy the young men and shall have no compassion upon the fruit of the womb. And their eyes shall not spare the children.
19 “And Babel, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty and pride of the Chaldeans, shall be as the destruction of God in Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 “It shall not be inhabited forever, nor shall it be indwelt from generation to generation. Nor shall the Arabian pitch his tents there, nor shall their shepherds make their folds there.
21 “But Zijm shall lodge there. And their houses shall be full of Ohim. Ostriches shall dwell there. And the hairy goats shall dance there.
22 “And Iim shall cry in their palaces, and dragons in their pleasant palaces. And that time is ready to come. And those days shall not be prolonged.”
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
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The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
