Prophecies about Babylon

      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.