¹ The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. ² Lift up a standard on the bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles. ³ I have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My mighty warriors,
My proudly exulting ones,
To execute My anger. ⁴ A sound of tumult on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle. ⁵ They are coming from a far country,
From the farthest horizons,
The LORD and His instruments of indignation,
To destroy the whole land. Judgment on the Day of the LORD ⁶ Wail, for the day of the LORD is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt. ⁸ They will be terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame. ⁹ Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light. ¹¹ Thus I will punish the world for its evil
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud
And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. ¹² I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold
And mankind 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
In the day of His burning anger. ¹⁴ And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,
Or like sheep with none to gather them,
They will each turn to his own people,
And each one flee to his own land. ¹⁵ Anyone who is found will be thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished. Babylon Will Fall to the Medes ¹⁷ Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold. ¹⁸ And their bows will mow down the young men,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their eye pity children. ¹⁹ And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. ²¹ But desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. ²² Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious palaces.
Her fateful time also will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged.