| 章 |
| 13:1 |
An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
|
| 13:2 |
Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles.
|
| 13:3 |
I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath-- those who rejoice in my triumph.
|
| 13:4 |
Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war.
|
| 13:5 |
They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens-- the LORD and the weapons of his wrath-- to destroy the whole country.
|
| 13:6 |
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
|
| 13:7 |
Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt.
|
| 13:8 |
Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.
|
| 13:9 |
See, the day of the LORD is coming --a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.
|
| 13:10 |
The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
|
| 13:11 |
I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
|
| 13:12 |
I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir.
|
| 13:13 |
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.
|
| 13:14 |
Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
|
| 13:15 |
Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword.
|
| 13:16 |
Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.
|
| 13:17 |
See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold.
|
| 13:18 |
Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children.
|
| 13:19 |
Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians' pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
|
| 13:20 |
She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there.
|
| 13:21 |
But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about.
|
| 13:22 |
Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
|
