Beginning
13 God showed Isaiah son of Amoz this message about Babylon:
God’s Message to Babylon
2 Raise a flag on the bare mountain.
Call out to the men.
Raise your hand to signal them.
Tell them to enter through the gates for important people.
3 I myself have commanded those people
whom I have separated as mine.
I have called those warriors to carry out my anger.
They rejoice and are glad to do my will.
4 Listen to the loud noise in the mountains.
It sounds like many people.
Listen to the noise among the kingdoms.
Nations are gathering together.
The Lord of heaven’s armies is calling
his army together for battle.
5 This army is coming from a faraway land.
It is coming from the edge of the horizon.
In anger the Lord is using this army like a weapon.
And it will destroy the whole country.
6 Cry, because the Lord’s day of judging is near.
God All-Powerful is sending destruction.
7 People will be weak with fear.
Their courage will melt away.
8 Everyone will be afraid.
Pain and hurt will grab them.
They will hurt like a woman giving birth to a baby.
They will look at each other in fear.
Their faces will become red like fire.
9 Look, the Lord’s day of judging is coming.
It will be a terrible day. God will be very angry,
and he will destroy the country.
God will destroy the sinners who live in the land.
10 The stars will not show their light.
The skies will be dark.
The sun will grow dark as it rises.
And the moon will not give its light.
11 The Lord says, “I will punish the world for its evil.
I will punish wicked people for their sins.
I will cause the proud people to lose their pride.
I will destroy the pride of those who are cruel to others.
12 People will be harder to find than pure gold.
There will be fewer people than there is fine gold in Ophir.
13 I will make the sky shake.
And the earth will be moved from its place.
The Lord of heaven’s armies will be very angry.
His anger will burn at that time.
14 “Then the people from Babylon will run away like hunted deer.
They will run like sheep who have no shepherd.
Everyone will turn back to his own people.
Each will run back to his own land.
15 Anyone who is captured will be killed.
Everyone who is caught will be killed with a sword.
16 Their little children will be beaten to death as their parents watch.
Everything in their houses will be stolen.
And their wives will be raped.
17 Look, I will cause the armies of Media to attack Babylon.
They do not care about silver.
They do not delight in gold.
18 Their soldiers will shoot the young men with arrows.
The soldiers will show no mercy on the children.
They will not feel sorry for the little boys.
19 Babylon is the most beautiful of all kingdoms.
The Babylonians are very proud of it.
But God will destroy it
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 No one will ever live there.
No one will settle there again.
No Arab will put his tent there.
No shepherd will bring his sheep there.
21 Only animals from the desert will live there.
The houses of Babylon will be full of wild dogs.
Owls will live there.
Wild goats will leap about in the houses.
22 Wolves will howl within the strong walls.
Wild dogs will bark in the beautiful buildings.
The end of Babylon is near.
Its time is almost over.”
Israel Will Return Home
14 The Lord will again show mercy to the people of Jacob. The Lord will again choose the people of Israel. He will settle them in their own land. Then non-Israelite people will join the Israelites. The non-Israelite people will become a part of the family of Jacob. 2 Nations will take the Israelites back to their land. Those men and women from the other nations will become slaves to Israel. In the past the Israelites were their slaves. But now the Israelites will defeat those nations and rule over them.
The King of Babylon Will Fall
3 The Lord will take away the Israelites’ hard work, and he will comfort them. They will no longer have to work as slaves. 4 On that day Israel will sing this song about the king of Babylon:
The cruel king who ruled us is finished.
His rule is finished!
5 The Lord breaks the scepter of evil rulers.
He takes away their power.
6 The king of Babylon beat people in anger.
He beat them again and again.
He ruled the people in anger.
He kept on doing terrible things to the people.
7 But now, the whole land rests and is quiet.
Now the people begin to sing.
8 Even the pine trees are happy.
And the cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.
They say, “The king has fallen.
No one will ever cut us down again.”
9 The place of the dead is excited
to meet you when you come.
It wakes the spirits of the dead to greet you.
They were the leaders of the world.
It makes dead kings stand up from their thrones to greet you.
They were rulers of nations.
10 All these leaders will make fun of you.
They will say,
“Now you are weak, as we are.
Now you are just like us.”
11 Your pride has been sent down to where the dead are.
The music from your harps goes with it.
Flies are spread out like your bed beneath you.
And worms cover your body like a blanket.
12 King of Babylon, morning star, you have fallen from heaven,
even though you were as bright as the rising sun!
In the past all the nations on earth bowed down before you.
But now you have been cut down.
13 You told yourself,
“I will go up to heaven.
I will put my throne
above God’s stars.
I will sit on the mountain of the gods.
I will sit on the slopes of the sacred mountain.
14 I will go up above the tops of the clouds.
I will be like God Most High.”
15 But you were brought down to the grave.
You were brought down to the deep places where the dead are.
16 Those who see you stare at you.
They think about what has happened to you.
They say, “Is this the same man who caused great fear on earth?
Is he the one who shook the kingdoms?
17 Is this the man who turned the land into a desert?
Is he the one who destroyed its cities?
Is he the one who captured people in war
and would not let them go home?”
18 Every king of the earth has been buried with honor.
Every king has his own grave.
19 But you are thrown out of your grave,
like an unwanted branch is cut from a tree and thrown away.
You are covered by bodies
that died in battle.
You have been thrown into a rocky pit.
And other soldiers walk on you.
20 You will not be buried like other people.
This is because you ruined your own country.
And you killed your own people.
So your children will never
be mentioned again.
21 Prepare to kill his children.
Kill them because their father is guilty.
They will never again take control of the earth.
They will never again fill the world with their cities.
22 The Lord of heaven’s armies says this:
“I will fight against those people.
I will destroy Babylon and its people.
I will destroy its people and their descendants,” says the Lord.
23 “I will make Babylon fit only for owls.
It will become a swamp.
I will sweep Babylon as with a broom of destruction,”
says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
God Will Punish Assyria
24 The Lord of heaven’s armies has made this promise:
“These things will happen exactly as I planned them.
These things will happen exactly as I set them up.
25 I will destroy the king of Assyria in my country.
I will trample him on my mountains.
He put a heavy load on my people.
But that weight will be removed.
26 “This is what I plan to do against all the earth.
I will raise my hand to strike down all nations.”
27 When the Lord of heaven’s armies makes a plan,
no one can stop it.
When the Lord raises his hand to punish people,
no one can stop him.
God’s Message to Philistia
28 This message was given the year King Ahaz died:
29 Country of Philistia, don’t be so happy.
The king who beat you is now dead.
But he is like a snake that will give birth to another dangerous snake.
The new king will be like a quick, dangerous snake to bite you.
30 Even the poorest of my people will be able to eat safely.
People in need will be able to lie down in safety.
But I will kill your family with hunger.
And all your people who are left will die.
31 People near the city gates, cry out!
Philistines, be frightened!
A cloud of dust comes from the north.
It is an army, full of men ready to fight.
32 What shall we tell the messengers from Philistia?
Say that the Lord has made Jerusalem strong.
Say that his poor people will go there for safety.
God’s Message to Moab
15 This is a message about Moab:
In one night armies took the wealth from Ar in Moab.
That night the city was destroyed.
In one night armies took the wealth from Kir in Moab.
That night the city was destroyed.
2 The people of Dibon go to the places of worship to cry.
The people of Moab cry for the cities of Nebo and Medeba.
Everyone has shaved his head and beard to show how sad he is.
3 In the streets at Moab they wear rough cloth to show their sadness.
On the roofs[a] and in the public squares,
they are crying loudly.
4 People in the cities Heshbon and Elealeh cry out loud.
You can hear their voices far away in the city Jahaz.
Even the soldiers are frightened.
They are shaking from fear.
5 My heart cries with sorrow for Moab.
Its people run away to Zoar for safety.
They run to Eglath Shelishiyah.
People are going up the mountain road to Luhith.
They are crying as they go.
People are going on the road to Horonaim.
They cry out loud over their destruction.
6 But the water of Nimrim has dried up.
The grass has dried up.
All the plants are dead.
Nothing green is left.
7 So the people gather up what they have saved.
They carry those things and cross the Ravine of the Poplars.
8 Crying is heard everywhere in Moab.
Their crying is heard as far away as the city Eglaim.
Their crying is heard as far away as Beer Elim.
9 The water of the city Dibon is full of blood.
And I, the Lord, will bring even more troubles to Dibon.
A few people living in Moab have escaped the enemy.
But I will send lions to kill them.
16 Send the king of the land
the payment he demands.
Send a lamb from Sela through the desert
to the mountain of Jerusalem.
2 The women of Moab
try to cross the river Arnon.
They are like little birds
that have fallen from their nest.
3 They say: “Help us.
Tell us what to do.
Protect us from our enemies
as shade protects us from the noon sun.
Hide us because we are running for safety!
Don’t give us to our enemies.
4 Let those of us who were forced out of Moab live in your land.
Hide us from our enemies.”
The robbing of Moab will stop.
The enemy will be defeated.
The men who hurt others will disappear from the land.
5 Then a new loyal king will come.
This faithful king will be from the family of David.
He will judge fairly.
He wants to do what is right.
6 We have heard that the people of Moab are proud
and very conceited.
They are very proud and angry.
But their bragging means nothing.
7 So the people of Moab will cry.
They will all be sad.
They will moan and groan
for the raisin cakes they had in Kir Hareseth.
8 But the fields of Heshbon and the vines of Sibmah cannot grow grapes.
Foreign rulers have destroyed the grapevines.
The grapevines once spread as far as the city of Jazer and into the desert.
They had spread as far as the sea.
9 I cry with the people of Jazer
for the grapevines of Sibmah.
I will cry with the people of Heshbon and Elealeh.
There will be no shouts of joy,
because there will be no harvest or ripe fruit.
10 There will be no joy and happiness in the orchards.
There will be no songs or shouts of joy in the vineyards.
No one makes wine in the winepresses.
I have put an end to shouts of joy.
11 My heart cries for Moab like a harp playing a funeral song.
I am very sad for Kir Hareseth.
12 The people of Moab will go to their places of worship.
They will try to pray.
But when they go to their temple to pray,
they will not be able.
13 The Lord said these things about Moab before. 14 And now the Lord says, “In three years all those people and what they are proud of will be hated. (This is three years as a hired helper would count time.) There will be a few people left, but they will be weak.”
God’s Message to Aram
17 This is the message for Damascus:
“The city of Damascus will be destroyed.
Only ruins will be left there.
2 People will leave the cities of Aroer.
Flocks of sheep will wander freely in those empty towns.
There will be no one to bother them.
3 The strong, walled cities of Israel will be destroyed.
The government in Damascus will end.
Those left alive of Aram will be
like the glory of Israel,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
4 “At that time Israel’s wealth will all be gone.
Israel will be like a man who has lost much weight from sickness.
5 That time will be like the grain harvest in the Valley of Rephaim.
The workers cut the wheat.
Then they cut the heads of grain from the plants.
And they collect the grain.
6 That time will also be like the olive harvest,
when a few olives are left.
Two or three olives are left in the top branches.
Four or five olives are left on full branches,” says the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 At that time people will look to God, their Maker.
Their eyes will see the Holy One of Israel.
8 They will not trust the altars they have made.
They will not trust what their hands have made.
They will not respect the Asherah idols
and altars they have made.
9 In that day all their strong cities will be empty. They will be like the cities that the Hivites and the Amorites left. They left their cities when the Israelites came to take the land. Everything will be ruined.
10 You have forgotten the God who saves you.
You have not remembered that God is your place of safety.
You plant the finest grapevines.
You plant grapevines from faraway places.
11 You will plant your grapevines one day and try to make them grow.
The next day they will begin to grow.
But at harvest time everything will be dead.
A sickness will kill all the plants.
12 Listen to the many people!
They are crying loud like the noise from the sea.
Listen to the noise!
The crying is like the crashing of great waves.
13 The people roar like those waves.
But when God speaks harshly to them, they will run away.
They will be like chaff on the hills being blown by the wind.
They will be like tumbleweeds blown away by a storm.
14 At night the people will be very frightened.
Before morning, no one will be left.
So our enemies will come to our land,
but they will become nothing.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.