Isaiah 13

1An oracle concerning Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.

2Raise a banner on a bare hill; shout to them; wave your hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles.

3I myself have commanded my consecrated ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my anger, those who exult in my triumph.

4Listen! A tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen! An uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering an army for battle.

5They come from a distant land, from the ends of the heavens—Yahweh and the weapons of his fury—to destroy the whole earth.

6Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

7Therefore all hands will go limp, and every human heart will melt.

8They will be terrified; pangs and pains will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will stare aghast at one another, their faces aflame.

9Look, the day of Yahweh is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.

10For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light.

11I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their guilt. I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and bring low the haughtiness of tyrants.

12I will make people scarcer than fine gold, and humankind than the gold of Ophir.

13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place, at the fury of Yahweh of Armies on the day of his burning anger.

14Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep with no one to gather them, 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.

16Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped.

17Look, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who care nothing for silver and take no delight in gold.

18Their bows will cut down the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.

19And Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.

20It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. No Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will rest their flocks there.

21But desert creatures will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; ostriches will live there, and wild goats will dance there.

22Hyenas will howl in its strongholds, and jackals in its luxurious palaces. Its time is close at hand, and its days will not be prolonged.