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
1 #
Is 47; Jer 50—51; Hab 1—2. The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2On a bare hill raise a signal,
cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for them to enter
the gates of the nobles.
3I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
my proudly exulting ones.
4Hark, a tumult on the mountains
as of a great multitude!
Hark, an uproar of kingdoms,
of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering
a host for battle.
5They come from a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
to destroy the whole earth.
6Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
7Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every man's heart will melt,
8and they will be dismayed.
Pangs and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in travail.
They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.
9Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the earth a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it.
10 #
Mt 24.29; Mk 13.24; Rev 6.12; 8.12. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising
and the moon will not shed its light.
11I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,
and lay low the haughtiness of the ruthless.
12I will make men more rare than fine gold,
and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
in the day of his fierce anger.
14And like a hunted gazelle,
or like sheep with none to gather them,
every man will turn to his own people,
and every man will flee to his own land.
15Whoever is found will be thrust through,
and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16Their infants will be dashed in pieces
before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
and their wives ravished.
17Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them,
who have no regard for silver
and do not delight in gold.
18Their bows will slaughter the young men;
they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
their eyes will not pity children.
19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.
20It will never be inhabited
or dwelt in for all generations;
no Arab will pitch his tent there,
no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
21 #
Rev 18.2. But wild beasts will lie down there,
and its houses will be full of howling creatures;
there ostriches will dwell,
and there satyrs will dance.
22Hyenas will cry in its towers,
and jackals in the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand
and its days will not be prolonged.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America