13:1 A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
13:2 Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles.
13:3 I have commanded those I prepared for battle; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath - those who rejoice in my triumph.
13:4 Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war.
13:5 They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens - the Lord and the weapons of his wrath - to destroy the whole country.
13:6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.* / *Hebrew Shaddai
13:7 Because of this, all hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear.
13:8 Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.
13:9 See, the day of the Lord is coming - a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger - to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.
13:10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
13:11 I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
13:12 I will make people scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir.
13:13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.
13:14 Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people, they will flee to their native land.
13:15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword.
13:16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated.
13:17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold.
13:18 Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children.
13:19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians,* will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. / *Or Chaldeans
13:20 She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; there no nomads will pitch their tents, there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
13:21 But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about.
13:22 Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds, jackals her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.