Isaiah 13

Pronouncement of Judgment on Babylon

1This is the prophecy against Babylon # 13:1 This verse begins a new section of Isaiah (chs. 13–23) that contains ten prophecies against ten nations. Babylon (related to Babel) means “confusion” and points to the political and religious confusion and disorder among the nations. This prophecy against Babylon was spoken by Isaiah at least 174 years before Babylon fell in 536 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus described the city of Babylon as 15 miles (24.14 kilometers) wide on each side with walls that were more than 85 feet (25.91 meters) thick and 350 feet (106.68 meters) high. It had one hundred gates to the city and was the commercial center of the ancient Near East. In the book of Revelation, Babylon becomes a metaphor for the world’s political and religious system. See Isa. 46–47; Rev. 18. that God revealed to Isaiah, son of Amoz:

2“Raise high a signal flag on a barren hilltop! Shout out!

Beckon my armies to invade the gates of the nobles,

3for I have given orders to my consecrated ones.

I have summoned my mighty heroes,

those who rejoice in my triumph,

that they may execute my anger.” # 13:3 These were God’s armies consecrated by him to carry out his judgment on Babylon. God was mustering his army from among the Medes to invade Babylon (see v. 17; 21:2).

4Listen! A thunderous noise is heard on the mountain,

like that of a massive multitude.

Listen! Kingdoms are in an uproar;

nations are assembling together.

The almighty Lord Yahweh is mustering an army for war.

5They are coming from a faraway land,

from the end of the heavens. # 13:5 Or possibly “horizon.” See Joel 2:1–10; 2 Thess. 1:7–10; Judah (Jude) 14–15. The heavenly sons and daughters of God are also consecrated ones, mighty ones, and warriors who rejoice in his triumph.

Here comes Yahweh with his instruments of judgment,

ready to ravage the entire land. # 13:5 Or “all the earth.”

6Wail, for the day of the Lord Yahweh is near!

It will come with the destructive power of Shaddai.

7For this reason, every hand will go limp

and every heart will melt.

8All the Babylonians will be seized with panic and pain.

Anguish will grip them like a woman in labor.

They will look at one another with astonishment,

and their faces will be flames of fire!

9Behold! The day of the Lord is coming

with pitiless fury and fierce anger.

The land will be made desolate,

destroying the sinners who inhabit it.

10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations # 13:10 Or “Orion.” See Joel 2:31; Amos 5:8; Matt. 24:29; Acts 2:20; Heb. 12:26–29. Stars may also be a metaphor for false teachers (see Judah [Jude] 13) and constellations a metaphor for fellowships (networks, denominations).

will not give their light.

The rising sun will be obscured, and the moon won’t shine.

11“I will bring punishment to the world for its evil

and to the wicked for their sins.

I will shatter the arrogance of the proud,

and will humble the pride of the high and mighty. # 13:11 Or “tyrants.”

12I will make a person scarcer than fine gold

and people rarer than a wedge of gold from Ophir. # 13:12 A region on the southern coast of Arabia.

13Therefore, I will make the heavens shudder

and the earth shake from its foundation

because of the wrath of the Lord, Commander of Angel Armies,

in the day of his fierce anger.

14Like a hunted gazelle, each will return to his own people,

and like sheep with no one to gather them,

each will flee to his native land.

15Captured ones will be slain,

and those who are caught will die by the sword.

16Their infants will be dashed to pieces

before their very eyes. # 13:16 See Ps. 137:9.

Their houses will be looted and their wives raped. # 13:16 See Zech. 14:2.

17Behold! I am stirring up the Medes # 13:17 The Medes were people who lived on the Zagros Mountains, in present-day central Iran. against them,

who neither value silver nor delight in gold.

18They will slaughter the young men, # 13:18 Or “With their bows they will strike down the young [men].”

and show no pity on infants nor compassion on children.”

19God will overthrow Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,

the splendor and pride of the Babylonians,

exactly as he did to Sodom and Gomorrah.

20Babylon will never rise again,

nor will she be inhabited for many generations.

Bedouins will not even pitch their tents there,

and shepherds will refuse to rest their flocks there.

21Wild animals will roam there,

and their vacant houses will be overrun by eerie creatures # 13:21 Or “wild dogs” or “hyenas.” —

nothing but owls # 13:21 Or “ostriches” or “skunks.” and goat-shaped demons # 13:21 Or “satyrs.” (See Koehler and Baumgartner’s Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Leiden, 1958, 926, and A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, 1980, 972.) dancing!

22Hyenas will howl in her houses,

and jackals will make their dens in her palaces.

Babylon’s time is up, and her days are numbered!

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Isaiah 13: TPT

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Isaiah 13

Prophecies about Babylon

1The [mournful, inspired] oracle (#I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.a burden to be carried) concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw [in a prophetic vision]:

2Lift up a signal banner on the bare mountain,

Summon them [the Medes and Persians] with a loud voice,

Wave the [beckoning] hand so that they may enter the doorways of the [Babylonian] nobles.

3I [the Lord] have commanded My consecrated ones,

I have even called My great warriors,

My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]—

To execute My anger.

4A sound of tumult on the mountains,

Like that of many people!

A sound of the uproar of the kingdoms,

Of nations gathered together!

The Lord of hosts is mustering an army for battle.

5They are coming from a distant country,

From the end of heaven [the farthest horizon]—

The Lord and the weapons of His indignation—

To destroy the whole land.

Judgment on the Day of the Lord

6Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!

It will come as #Shod in Hebrew, forming a word play with Shaddai.destruction from the #Heb Shaddai.Almighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)!

7Therefore #Babylon was taken by surprise on the night of Belshazzar’s sacrilegious feast when Belshazzar was killed, and Darius the Mede was made king over Babylonia, the realm of the Chaldeans (Dan 5:30). The Chaldeans became the dominant people in Babylonia when Merodach-baladan declared himself king of Babylon. The words “Chaldean” and “Babylonian” are used interchangeably.all hands will fall limp,

And every man’s heart will melt.

8They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified,

Pains and anguish will grip them;

They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.

They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,

Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].

9Listen carefully, the day of the Lord is coming,

Cruel, with wrath and raging anger,

To make the land a horror [of devastation];

And He shall exterminate its sinners from it.

10For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not flash with their light;

The sun will be dark when it rises,

And the moon will not shed its light.

11In this way I will punish the world for its evil

And the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];

I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud

And will abase the arrogance of the tyrant.

12I will make mortal man more rare than fine gold,

And mankind [scarcer] than the pure gold of Ophir.

13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;

And the earth will be shaken from its place

At the wrath of the Lord of hosts

In the day of His burning anger.

14And like the hunted gazelle,

Or like sheep that no man gathers,

Each [foreign resident] will turn [and go back] to his own people,

And each one flee to his own land.

15Anyone who is found will be pierced through,

And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

16Their children also will be smashed to pieces

Before their eyes;

Their houses will be looted

And their wives ravished.

Babylon Will Fall to the Medes

17Listen carefully, I will put the Medes [in motion] against them,

Who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold [and therefore cannot be bribed].

18Their bows will cut down the young men [of Babylon];

They will take no pity on the fruit of the womb,

Their eyes will not look with compassion on the children.

19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the #The Chaldeans dominated and ruled Babylonia from 625 b.c., until their empire fell in 539 b.c., but they were known as early as 1000 b.c. as an aggressive, tribal people in the southern region of Babylonia. They were highly skilled in both the science of astronomy and the pseudo-science of astrology. They kept meticulous records of celestial motion and correctly calculated the length of a year to within just a few minutes. Babylon, their capital city, was the center of trade and learning in the western part of Asia. The classical literature of the Chaldeans was written in cuneiform, but the common language, both written and spoken in Babylon, was Akkadian that was increasingly influenced by Aramaic.Chaldeans’ pride,

Will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.

20Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;

Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,

Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.

21But desert creatures will lie down there,

And their houses will be full of owls;

Ostriches also will live there, and #Another possibility is goat demons.wild goats will dance there.

22 # This prophecy was written well over a century before Babylon’s downfall in 539 b.c. Hyenas will howl in their castles,

And jackals in their luxurious palaces.

Babylon’s time has nearly come,

And her days will not be prolonged.

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