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Prophecies about Babylon

¹ The mournful, ^(C1)inspired oracle (^(F1)a burden to be carried) concerning ^(C2)Babylon which ^(C3)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw in a prophetic vision:

^2 (C1)Lift up a signal banner on the ^(C2)bare mountain,
Summon them the Medes and Persians with a loud voice,
Wave ^(C3)the beckoning hand so that they may ^(C4)enter the doorways of the Babylonian nobles.

³ I the LORD have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My ^(C1)great warriors,
My proudly exulting ones the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor—
To execute My anger.

⁴ A ^(C1)sound of tumult on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of the uproar of the kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The LORD of hosts is mustering an army for battle.

⁵ They are coming from a distant country,
From the ^(C1)end of heaven the farthest horizon—
The LORD and the weapons of His ^(C2)indignation—
To ^(C3)destroy the whole land. ^(VR1)

Judgment on the Day of the LORD

⁶ Wail, for the ^(C1)day of the LORD is at hand!
It will come as ^(F1)(C2)destruction from the ^(F2)Almighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)! ^(VR1)

⁷ Therefore ^(F1)(C1)all hands will fall limp,
And every man's ^(C2)heart will melt.

⁸ They of Babylon will be shocked and ^(C1)terrified,
Pains and anguish will grip them;
They will ^(C2)be in pain like a woman in childbirth.
They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,
Their faces aflame from the effects of the unprecedented warfare.

⁹ Listen carefully, ^(C1)the day of the LORD is coming,
Cruel, with wrath and raging anger,
To make the land a horror of devastation;
And He shall exterminate its sinners from it. ^(VR1)

¹⁰ For the ^(C1)stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash with their light;
The ^(C2)sun will be dark when it rises,
And the moon will not shed its light.

¹¹ In this way I will ^(C1)punish the world for its evil
And the ^(C2)wicked for their wickedness their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing;
I will also put an end to the ^(C3)arrogance of the proud
And will abase the ^(C4)arrogance of the ^(C5)tyrant.

¹² I will make mortal man ^(C1)more rare than fine gold,
And mankind scarcer than the pure ^(C2)gold of Ophir.

¹³ Therefore I will make the ^(C1)heavens tremble;
And the ^(C2)earth will be shaken from its place
At the wrath of the LORD of hosts
In ^(C3)the day of His burning anger.

¹⁴ And like the hunted gazelle,
Or like ^(C1)sheep that no man gathers,
Each foreign resident will turn and go back to his own people,
And each one flee to his own land.

¹⁵ Anyone who is found will be ^(C1)pierced through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

¹⁶ Their ^(C1)children also will be smashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be looted
And their wives ravished.

Babylon Will Fall to the Medes

¹⁷ Listen carefully, I will ^(C1)put the Medes in motion against them,
Who have no regard for silver and do not ^(C2)delight in gold and therefore cannot be bribed.

¹⁸ Their bows will cut down the ^(C1)young men of Babylon;
They will take no pity on the fruit of the womb,
Their ^(C2)eyes will not look with compassion on the children.

¹⁹ And ^(C1)Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the ^(C2)beauty of the ^(F1)Chaldeans' pride,
Will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God ^(C3)overthrew them.

²⁰ Babylon will ^(C1)never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the ^(C2)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.

²¹ But ^(C1)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and ^(F1)wild goats will dance there.

^22 (F1)Hyenas will howl in their castles,
And jackals in their luxurious ^(C1)palaces.
Babylon's time has nearly come,
And her days will not be prolonged.