Isaiah 13
1 A prophecy concerning Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.
2 Raise a banner on a bare mountain, call loudly to them, wave your hand, so they may enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my consecrated ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my anger, those who rejoice in my triumph.
4 The sound of a crowd in the mountains, like a numerous people! The sound of the uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering: the LORD of Hosts is mustering an army for war.
5 They come from a distant land, from the ends of heaven: the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it comes as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will grow weak, and every human heart will melt.
8 They will be terrified: anguish and labor pains will seize them, and they will writhe like a woman giving birth. They will stare at one another in amazement, their faces aflame.
9 Look: the Day of the LORD is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to turn the land into a wasteland and destroy the sinners in it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will grow dark at its rising, and the moon will not shine its light.
11 I 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 down the haughtiness of tyrants.
12 I will make humanity rarer than fine gold, and people rarer than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place, at the fury of the LORD of Hosts, on the day of his burning anger.
14 They will be like a hunted gazelle and like sheep with no one to gather them: each will turn back to their own people, each will flee to their own land.
15 Everyone found will be pierced through; everyone caught will fall by the sword.
16 Their little children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses plundered, and their women violated.
17 I am going to stir up the Medes against them, who place no value on silver and take no pleasure in gold.
18 Their bows will shatter the young men; they will have no compassion for the fruit of the womb, and their eyes will not spare the children.
19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will become like the time when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never again be inhabited; no one will live there from generation to generation. No Arab will pitch a tent there, and no shepherd will let a flock rest there.
21 But desert creatures will lie there, and the houses will be filled with owls; ostriches will live there, and wild goats will dance there.
22 Hyenas will howl in her deserted homes, and jackals in her pleasure palaces. Her time is near, and her days will not be prolonged.
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