An Oracle Concerning Babylon
The aoracle concerning bBabylon which cIsaiah the son of Amoz beheld.
2 aLift up a standard on the bbare hill,
Heighten your voice at them,
cWave the hand that they may denter the doors of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My set apart ones,
I have even called My amighty warriors,
My proudly exulting ones,
To execute My anger.
4 A asound of tumult on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of the rumbling of kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
Yahweh of hosts is mustering the host for battle.
5 They are coming from a far country,
From the aend of the sky,
Yahweh and His instruments of bindignation,
To cwreak destruction on the whole land.
6 Wail, for the aday of Yahweh is near!
It will come as bdestruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore aall hands will fall limp,
And every man’s bheart will melt.
8 They will be aterrified,
Pains and labor pangs will take hold of them;
They will bwrithe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.
9 Behold, athe day of Yahweh 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 astars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light;
The bsun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.
11 Thus I will apunish the world for its evil
And the bwicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the cpride of the arrogant
And bring low the dlofty pride of the eruthless.
12 I will make mortal man ascarcer than fine gold
And mankind than the bgold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the aheavens tremble,
And bthe earth will be shaken from its place
At the fury of Yahweh of hosts
In cthe day of His burning anger.
14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,
Or like asheep 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 apierced through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their ainfants also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I am going to aawaken the Medes against them,
Who will not think about silver or btake pleasure in gold.
18 And their bows will dash the ayoung men to pieces,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their beye pity children.
19 And it will be that aBabylon, the bbeauty of kingdoms, the honor of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God coverthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will anever be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation;
Nor will the bArab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
21 But adesert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will dwell there, and shaggy goats will leap there.
22 And hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious apalaces.
Her fateful time also will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged.