Isaiah 13
13
God will Punish Babylon
1 #
Is 47.1–15; Jer 50.1—51.64 This is a message about Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz received from God.
2On the top of a barren hill raise the battle flag! Shout to the soldiers and raise your arm as the signal for them to attack the gates of the proud city. 3The LORD has called out his proud and confident soldiers to fight a holy war and punish those he is angry with.
4Listen to the noise on the mountains — the sound of a great crowd of people, the sound of nations and kingdoms gathering. The LORD of Armies is preparing his troops for battle. 5They are coming from far-off countries at the ends of the earth. In his anger the LORD is coming to devastate the whole country.
6 #
Joel 1.15
Howl in pain! The day of the LORD is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. 7Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail. 8They will all be terrified and overcome with pain, like the pain of a woman in labour. They will look at each other in fear, and their faces will burn with shame. 9The day of the LORD is coming — that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed. 10#Ezek 32.7; Mt 24.29; Mk 13.24–25; Lk 21.25; Rev 6.12–13Every star and every constellation will stop shining, the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light.
11The LORD says, “I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. 12Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. 13I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the LORD Almighty, show my anger.
14“The foreigners living in Babylon will run away to their own countries, scattering like deer escaping from hunters, like sheep without a shepherd. 15Anyone who is caught will be stabbed to death. 16While they look on helplessly, their babies will be battered to death, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.”
17The LORD says, “I am stirring up the Medes#13.17 Medes: People of a nation north-east of Babylonia, which became part of the Persian empire. to attack Babylon. They care nothing for silver and are not tempted by gold. 18With their bows and arrows they will kill the young men. They will show no mercy to babies and take no pity on children. 19#Gen 19.24Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all; it is the pride of its people. But I, the LORD, will overthrow Babylon as I did Sodom and Gomorrah! 20No one will ever live there again. No wandering Arab will ever pitch his tent there, and no shepherd will ever pasture his flock there. 21#Is 34.14; Zeph 2.14; Rev 18.2It will be a place where desert animals live and where owls build their nests. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will prance through the ruins. 22The towers and palaces will echo with the cries of hyenas and jackals. Babylon's time has come! Her days are almost over.”
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Isaiah 13: GNBUK
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Isaiah 13
13
A Message about Babylon
1Isaiah 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.
3I, 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.”
4Hear 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.
5They 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.
6Scream in terror, for the day of the Lord has arrived—
the time for the Almighty to destroy.
7Every arm is paralyzed with fear.
Every heart melts,
8and 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.
9For 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.
10The 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.
12I will make people scarcer than gold—
more rare than the fine gold of Ophir.
13For 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.”
14Everyone 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.
15Anyone who is captured will be cut down—
run through with a sword.
16Their 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.
18The 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.”
19Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms,
the flower of Chaldean pride,
will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God destroyed them.
20Babylon 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.
21Desert 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.
22Hyenas 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.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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