[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.
[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.
[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.