Isaiah 13

¹ A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:

² Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to them;
beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.

³ I have commanded those I have set apart;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
those who rejoice in my triumph.

⁴ Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The LORD of Hosts is mustering
an army for war.

⁵ They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens—
the LORD and the weapons of his wrath—
to destroy the whole country.

⁶ Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

⁷ Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every heart will melt with fear.

⁸ Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.

⁹ See, the day of the LORD is coming
—cruel, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.

¹⁰ The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.

¹¹ "I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

¹² I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.

¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts,
in the day of his burning anger.

¹⁴ Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd,
they will all return to their own people,
they will flee to their native lands.

¹⁵ Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
all who are caught will fall by the sword.

¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be looted
and their wives violated.

¹⁷ See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who do not care for silver
and have no delight in gold.

¹⁸ Their bows will strike down the young men;
they will have no mercy on infants,
nor will they look with compassion on children.

¹⁹ Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
the pride and glory of the Babylonians,
will be overthrown by God
like Sodom and Gomorrah.

²⁰ She will never be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation;
there no nomad will pitch his tent,
there no shepherd will rest his flocks.

²¹ But desert creatures will lie there,
jackals will fill her houses;
there owls will dwell,
and wild goats will leap about.

²² Hyenas will howl in her strongholds,
jackals in her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged.