Isaiah 13
English Standard Version Anglicised
The Judgement 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 labour.
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 splendour 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
Isaiah 13
New International Reader's Version
A Prophecy Against Babylon
13 Here is the prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 Lift up a banner on the top of a bare hill.
Shout to the enemy soldiers.
Wave for them to enter the gates
that are used by the nobles of Babylon.
3 The Lord has commanded the soldiers he prepared for battle.
He has sent for them to carry out his anger against Babylon.
They will be happy when he wins the battle for them.
4 Listen! I hear a noise in the mountains.
It sounds like a huge crowd.
Listen! I hear a loud noise among the kingdoms.
It sounds like nations gathering together.
The Lord who rules over all is bringing
an army together for war.
5 They come from lands far away.
They come from the farthest places on earth.
The Lord and those weapons of his anger
are coming to destroy the whole country of Babylon.
6 Cry out! The day of the Lord is near.
The Mighty One is coming to destroy the Babylonians.
7 Their hands won’t be able to help them.
Everyone’s heart will melt away in fear.
8 The people will be filled with terror.
Pain and suffering will grab hold of them.
They will groan with pain like a woman having a baby.
They’ll look at one another in terror.
Their faces will burn with shame.
9 The day of the Lord is coming.
It will be a terrible day.
The Lord’s burning anger will blaze out.
He will make the land dry and empty.
He’ll destroy the sinners in it.
10 All the stars in the sky
will stop giving their light.
The sun will be darkened as soon as it rises.
The moon will not shine.
11 The Lord will punish the world because it is so evil.
He will punish evil people for their sins.
He’ll put an end to the bragging of those who are proud.
He’ll bring down the pride of those who don’t show any pity.
12 He’ll make people harder to find than pure gold.
They will be harder to find than gold from Ophir.
13 He will make the heavens tremble.
He’ll shake the earth out of its place.
The Lord who rules over all will show how angry he is.
At that time his burning anger will blaze out.
14 Outsiders who live in Babylon will scatter
like antelope that are chased by a hunter.
They are like sheep that don’t have a shepherd.
All of them will return to their own people.
They will run back to their own countries.
15 Those who are captured will have spears stuck through them.
Those who are caught will be killed by swords.
16 Their babies will be smashed to pieces
right in front of their eyes.
Their houses will be robbed.
Their wives will be raped.
17 The Lord will stir up the Medes to attack the Babylonians.
They aren’t interested in getting silver.
They don’t want gold.
18 Instead, they will use their bows and arrows
to strike down the young men.
They won’t even show any mercy to babies.
They won’t take pity on children.
19 The city of Babylon is the jewel of kingdoms.
It is the pride and glory of the Babylonians.
But God will destroy it
just as he did Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 No one will ever live in Babylon again.
No one will live there for all time to come.
Those who wander in the desert will never set up their tents there.
Shepherds will never rest their flocks there.
21 But desert creatures will lie down there.
Wild dogs will fill its houses.
Owls will live there.
Wild goats will jump around in it.
22 Hyenas will live in its forts.
Wild dogs will live in its beautiful palaces.
The time for Babylon to be punished is near.
Its days are numbered.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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