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
An Oracle against Babylon
1The oracle of Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2Raise a signal on a bare hill,
lift up your voice to them;
wave the hand and may they enter the gateways of the noblemen.
3I myself I have commanded my consecrated ones,
I have also summoned my mighty warriors concerning my anger,
the ones who exalt over#Literally “exultant of” my majesty.
4A sound, a noise is on the mountains,
the likeness of many people!
A sound of the roar of the kingdoms,
of nations gathering!
Yahweh of hosts is mustering an army for battle.
5They are coming from a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation,
to destroy the whole earth.#Literally “all of the land/earth”
6Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near;
it will come like destruction from Shaddai!#Often translated “the Almighty”
7Therefore all hands will grow slack,
and every human heart will melt,
8and they will be dismayed.
Pangs and labor pains will seize them;
they will tremble like a woman giving birth.
They will stare at one another,#Literally “A man will stare at his neighbor”
their faces flushing.#Literally “faces of flames”
9Look! The day of Yahweh is coming,
cruel and wrath and the burning of anger,
to make the earth a desolation,
and he will destroy its sinners from it.
10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light;
the sun will keep back when it comes out,
and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11And I will punish the world for its evil
and the wicked for their iniquity.
And I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,
and I will bring the haughtiness of tyrants low.
12I will make humanity more rare than gold
and humankind more than the gold of Ophir.
13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will quake from its place
because of the wrath of Yahweh of hosts,
and in the day his anger burns.
14And this shall happen:
like a hunted gazelle or sheep with none to gather them,#Literally “and without one who gathers”
they will each turn to his own people,
and they will each flee to his own land.
15Everyone who is found will be pierced through,
and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword.
16And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped.#The reading tradition (Qere) softens this to “slept with”
17Look! I am stirring the Medes up against them,
who do not value silver
and do not delight in gold.
18And their bows will shatter young men.
And they will not show mercy on the fruit of the womb;
their eyes will not look compassionately on children.
19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew#Literally “the overthrow by God of” Sodom and Gomorrah.
20It will not be inhabited forever,
and it will not be dwelled in forever;#Literally “until generation and generation”
and no Arab will pitch a tent there,
and shepherds will not allow their flocks to lie down there.
21But wild animals will lie down there,
and their houses will be full of howling creatures,
and the daughters of ostriches#Hebrew “ostrich” will live there,
and goats will dance there.
22And hyenas will answer in its palaces,
and jackals in the pleasure palaces;
and its time is coming soon,#Literally “close to come”
and its days will not be prolonged.
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