Isaiah 13
New American Standard Bible
Prophecies about Babylon
13 The (A)pronouncement concerning (B)Babylon which (C)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:
2 (D)Lift up a flag on the [a](E)bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
(F)Wave the hand that they may (G)enter the doors of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have also called for My (H)warriors
Who boast in My eminence,
To execute My anger.
4 A (I)sound of a roar on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The Lord of armies is mustering the army for battle.
5 They are coming from a distant country,
From the [b](J)farthest horizons,
The Lord and the weapons of His (K)indignation,
To (L)destroy the whole land.
Judgment on the Day of the Lord
6 Wail, for the (M)day of the Lord is near!
It will come as (N)destruction from [c]the Almighty.
7 Therefore (O)all hands will fall limp,
And every human (P)heart will melt.
8 They will be (Q)terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will (R)writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.
9 Behold, (S)the day of the Lord is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
10 For the (T)stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash their light;
The (U)sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.
11 So I will (V)punish the world for its evil
And the (W)wicked for their wrongdoing;
I will also put an end to the (X)audacity of the proud
And humiliate the (Y)arrogance of the [d](Z)tyrants.
12 I will make mortal man (AA)scarcer than pure gold
And mankind than the (AB)gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the (AC)heavens tremble,
And (AD)the earth will be shaken from its place
At the fury of the Lord of armies
In (AE)the day of His burning anger.
14 And it will be that, like a hunted gazelle,
Or like (AF)sheep with no one to gather them,
Each of them will turn to his own people,
And each of them will flee to his own land.
15 Anyone who is found will be (AG)thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their (AH)little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives raped.
Babylon Will Fall to the Medes
17 Behold, I am going to (AI)stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not value silver or (AJ)take pleasure in gold.
18 And their bows will [e]mow down the (AK)young men,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their (AL)eye pity [f]children.
19 And (AM)Babylon, the (AN)beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God (AO)overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will (AP)never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the (AQ)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds allow their flocks to lie down there.
21 But (AR)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of [g]owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and [h]shaggy goats will frolic there.
22 [i]Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious (AS)palaces.
Her fateful time also [j]will soon come,
And her days will not be prolonged.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 13:2 Or wind-swept mountain
- Isaiah 13:5 Lit end of heaven
- Isaiah 13:6 Heb Shaddai
- Isaiah 13:11 Or violent
- Isaiah 13:18 Lit dash in pieces
- Isaiah 13:18 Lit sons
- Isaiah 13:21 Or howling creatures
- Isaiah 13:21 Or goat demons
- Isaiah 13:22 Or howling creatures
- Isaiah 13:22 Lit is near to come
Isaiah 13
New Living Translation
A Message about Babylon
13 Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon:
2 “Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop.
Call up an army against Babylon.
Wave your hand to encourage them
as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty.
3 I, the Lord, have dedicated these soldiers for this task.
Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger,
and they will rejoice when I am exalted.”
4 Hear the noise on the mountains!
Listen, as the vast armies march!
It is the noise and shouting of many nations.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has called this army together.
5 They come from distant countries,
from beyond the farthest horizons.
They are the Lord’s weapons to carry out his anger.
With them he will destroy the whole land.
6 Scream in terror, for the day of the Lord has arrived—
the time for the Almighty to destroy.
7 Every arm is paralyzed with fear.
Every heart melts,
8 and people are terrified.
Pangs of anguish grip them,
like those of a woman in labor.
They look helplessly at one another,
their faces aflame with fear.
9 For see, the day of the Lord is coming—
the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger.
The land will be made desolate,
and all the sinners destroyed with it.
10 The heavens will be black above them;
the stars will give no light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will provide no light.
11 “I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil
and the wicked for their sin.
I will crush the arrogance of the proud
and humble the pride of the mighty.
12 I will make people scarcer than gold—
more rare than the fine gold of Ophir.
13 For I will shake the heavens.
The earth will move from its place
when the Lord of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath
in the day of his fierce anger.”
14 Everyone in Babylon will run about like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd.
They will try to find their own people
and flee to their own land.
15 Anyone who is captured will be cut down—
run through with a sword.
16 Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes.
Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped.
17 “Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon.
They cannot be tempted by silver
or bribed with gold.
18 The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows.
They will have no mercy on helpless babies
and will show no compassion for children.”
19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms,
the flower of Chaldean pride,
will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God destroyed them.
20 Babylon will never be inhabited again.
It will remain empty for generation after generation.
Nomads will refuse to camp there,
and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.
21 Desert animals will move into the ruined city,
and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures.
Owls will live among the ruins,
and wild goats will go there to dance.
22 Hyenas will howl in its fortresses,
and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s days are numbered;
its time of destruction will soon arrive.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
