Isaiah 13
13
God’s Message to Babylon
1God showed Isaiah son of Amoz this message#13:1 message Or “burden.” about Babylon:
2“Raise a flag on that mountain#13:2 mountain This probably means Babylon. where nothing grows.
Call out to the men.
Wave your arms to let them know
they should enter through the gates for important leaders.
3“I have separated these men from the people,
and I myself will command them.
I have gathered these proud, happy soldiers of mine
to show how angry I am.
4“Listen to that loud noise in the mountains.
It sounds like crowds of people.
People from many kingdoms are gathering together.
The Lord All-Powerful is calling his army together.
5They are coming from a faraway land.
They are coming from beyond the horizon.
The Lord will use this army as a weapon to show his anger.
They will destroy the whole country.”
6The Lord’s special day is near. So cry and be sad for yourselves. A time is coming when the enemy will steal your wealth. God All-Powerful will make that happen.#13:6 A time … happen This is a wordplay in Hebrew. The word meaning “stealing things in war” sounds like the word meaning “God All-Powerful.” 7People will lose their courage. Fear will make them weak. 8Everyone will be afraid. They will stare at each other with shock on their faces. Fear will grip them like the pains of a woman in childbirth.
God’s Judgment Against Babylon
9Look, the Lord’s special day is coming! It will be a terrible day. God will be very angry. He will destroy the country and wipe out the sinful people who live there. 10The skies will be dark. The sun, the moon, and the stars will not shine.
11The Lord says, “I will cause bad things to happen to the world. I will punish the evil people for their sin. I will make proud people lose their pride. I will stop the bragging of cruel people. 12There will be only a few people left. They will be as rare as pure gold. 13In my anger I will shake the sky, and the earth will be moved from its place.”
That will happen on the day the Lord All-Powerful shows his anger. 14Then the people from Babylon will run away like wounded deer or sheep that have no shepherd. Everyone will turn and run back to their own country and people. 15Anyone caught by the enemy will be killed with a sword. 16Everything in their houses will be stolen. Their wives will be raped, and their little children will be beaten to death while they watch.
17The Lord says, “Look, I will cause the armies of Media to attack Babylon. Nothing will stop them, even if someone offers them gold and silver. 18They will walk on the bows of the young soldiers of Babylon. The enemy soldiers will not show any kindness or mercy even to the babies and young children. 19Babylon will be destroyed like the time God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Babylon is the most beautiful of all kingdoms. The Babylonians#13:19 Babylonians Literally, “Chaldeans.” are very proud of their city. 20But Babylon will not continue to be beautiful. People will not continue to live there in the future. Arabs will not put their tents there. Shepherds will not bring their sheep to let them eat there. 21The only animals living there will be wild animals from the desert. People will not be living in their houses in Babylon. The houses will be full of owls and large birds. Wild goats#13:21 Wild goats The Hebrew word means “hairy,” “goat,” or “goat-demon.” will play in the houses. 22Wild dogs and wolves will howl in the great and beautiful buildings. Babylon will be finished. The end is near, and it will not be delayed.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 13
13
A Pronouncement against Babylon
1A pronouncement#Is 14:28; 15:1; 17:1; 19:1; 21:1,11,13; 22:1; 23:1; 30:6 concerning Babylon#Is 13:19; 14:4; 47:1–15; Jr 24:1; 50:1–51:64; Mt 1:11; Rv 14:8 that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2Lift up a banner on a barren mountain.#Is 5:26; Jr 50:2
Call out to them.
Signal with your hand, and they will go
through the gates of the nobles.
3I have commanded my consecrated ones;
yes, I have called my warriors,
who celebrate my triumph,
to execute my wrath.#Ps 78:21,50; Ezk 5:15; 20:8
4Listen, a commotion on the mountains,
like that of a mighty people!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations being gathered together!
The Lord of Armies is mobilizing an army for war.
5They are coming from a distant land,
from the farthest horizon —
the Lord and the weapons of his wrath —
to destroy the whole country.#13:5 Or earth
6Wail! For the day of the Lord is near.#Is 2:12; 10:3; 13:9; 34:2,8; 61:2; Ezk 30:3; Am 5:18; Zph 1:7
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.#Is 10:25; 14:23; Jl 1:15
7Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,
and every man will lose heart.
8They will be horrified;
pain and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.#Is 26:17; Jr 4:31; Jn 16:21
They will look at each other,
their faces flushed with fear.
9Look, the day#Mt 25:13 of the Lord is coming —
cruel, with fury and burning anger —
to make the earth a desolation
and to destroy its sinners.#Dt 32:43
10Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations#13:10 Or Orions
will not give their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will not shine.#Is 34:4; Mt 24:29; Mk 13:24–25; Lk 21:26; Rv 8:12
11I will punish the world for its evil,#Jr 23:2; 36:31; 44:29
and wicked people for their iniquities.
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant#Is 2:11; 23:9; Dn 5:22–23
and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.
12I will make a human more scarce than fine gold,
and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.#1Kg 9:28; Jb 28:16; Ps 45:9
13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will shake from its foundations#Ps 18:7; Is 2:19; 24:1,19–20; Hg 2:6
at the wrath of the Lord of Armies,
on the day of his burning anger.
14Like wandering gazelles
and like sheep without a shepherd,#1Kg 22:17; Mt 9:36; Mk 6:34; 1Pt 2:25
each one will turn to his own people,
each one will flee to his own land.
15Whoever is found will be stabbed,
and whoever is caught will die by the sword.
16Their children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;#Ps 137:8–9; Is 13:18; 14:21; Hs 10:14; Nah 3:10
their houses will be looted,
and their wives raped.
17Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them,#Jr 51:11; Dn 5:28
who cannot be bought off with#13:17 Lit who have no regard for silver
and who have no desire for gold.
18Their bows will cut young men to pieces.
They will have no compassion on offspring;
they will not look with pity on children.
19And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,
the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.#Gn 19:24; Jr 14:18; 50:40; Am 4:11
20It will never be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation;#Is 14:23; 34:10–15; Jr 51:37–43
a nomad will not pitch his tent there,
and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.
21But desert creatures will lie down there,
and owls will fill the houses.
Ostriches will dwell there,
and wild goats will leap about.#Is 34:11–15; Zph 2:14; Rv 18:2
22Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,
and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time is almost up;
her days are almost over.
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