Is 13:1The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw [in a prophetic vision]:
Is 13:2Lift 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.
Is 13:3I [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.
Is 13:4A 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.
Is 13:5They 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. [Ps 19:4-6; Is 5:26]
Is 13:6Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty (All Sufficient One--Invincible God)! [Gen 17:1]
Is 13:7Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt.
Is 13:8They [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].
Is 13:9Listen 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. [Is 2:10-22; Rev 19:11-21]
Is 13:10For 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.
Is 13:11In 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.
Is 13:12I will make mortal man more rare than fine gold, And mankind [scarcer] than the pure gold of Ophir.
Is 13:13Therefore 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.
Is 13:14And 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.
Is 13:15Anyone who is found will be pierced through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
Is 13:16Their children also will be smashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be looted And their wives ravished.
Is 13:17¶ Listen 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].
Is 13:18Their 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.
Is 13:19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
Is 13:20Babylon 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.
Is 13:21But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and wild goats will dance there.
Is 13:22Hyenas will howl in their castles, And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Babylon's time has nearly come, And her days will not be prolonged.