Isaiah 13
13
The Judgment of Babylon
1The oracle concerning #ver. 19; ch. 14:4; 21:9; 47:1; See Jer. 51, 52 Babylon which #ch. 1:1Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2On a bare hill #ch. 5:26 raise a signal;
cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for #[ch. 41:25]them to enter
the gates of the nobles.
3I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
my proudly exulting ones.#13:3 Or those who exult in my majesty
4The sound #[ch. 22:5] of a tumult is on the mountains
as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
of nations gathering together!
# [Josh. 5:13, 14] The Lord of hosts is mustering
a host for battle.
5 # [ch. 46:11] They come from a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
to destroy the whole land.#13:5 Or earth; also verse 9
6 # ch. 14:31; 15:2, 3, 8; 16:7; Jer. 51:8; Ezek. 30:2 Wail, for #ch. 2:12; Joel 1:15; Zeph. 1:7the day of the Lord is near;
as destruction from the Almighty#13:6 The Hebrew words for destruction and almighty sound alike it will come!
7Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every human heart #See Josh. 2:11will melt.
8They will be dismayed:
# [Nah. 2:10] pangs and agony will seize them;
# ch. 26:17; Jer. 4:31; 6:24; Mic. 4:9, 10; John 16:21 they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.
9Behold, #[See ver. 6 above] the day of the Lord comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
and #[Ps. 104:35]to destroy its sinners from it.
10 # [ch. 34:4] For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
will not give their light;
#
Ezek. 32:7; Joel 2:31; 3:15; Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25 the sun will be dark at its rising,
and the moon will not shed its light.
11I will punish #ch. 24:21 the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will #[ch. 24:4] put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
# [ch. 2:11, 17] and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
12I will make #ch. 24:6 people more rare than fine gold,
and mankind than the #1 Kgs. 10:11; Job 28:16gold of Ophir.
13Therefore #Hag. 2:6I 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,
#
Jer. 50:16; 51:9; [1 Kgs. 22:36] each will turn to his own people,
and each will flee to his own land.
15Whoever is found will be thrust through,
and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16 #
Ps. 137:9; Nah. 3:10 Their infants will be dashed in pieces
before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
and their wives ravished.
17Behold, #ch. 21:2; Jer. 51:11, 28; Dan. 5:28, 31I am stirring up the Medes against them,
who have no regard for silver
and do not delight in gold.
18 #
Jer. 50:14, 29; 51:3 Their bows will slaughter#13:18 Hebrew dash in pieces the young men;
they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
their eyes will not pity children.
19And Babylon, #[ch. 47:5] the glory of kingdoms,
the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be #ch. 1:9; Gen. 19:24; Jer. 50:40; Amos 4:11like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.
20 #
Jer. 51:37, 43 It will never be inhabited
or lived in for all generations;
no #Jer. 3:2 Arab will pitch his tent there;
no #Jer. 33:12shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
21But #[ch. 34:13, 14] wild animals will lie down there,
and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
there #ch. 34:13; Jer. 50:39ostriches#13:21 Or owls will dwell,
and there wild goats will dance.
22Hyenas#13:22 Or foxes will cry in its towers,
and #ch. 35:7; Jer. 51:37 jackals in #[ch. 25:2; Amos 3:15]the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand
and its days will not be prolonged.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Isaiah 13
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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