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God Will Punish Babylon

^1 (a)This is a message about Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz received from God.

² On the top of a barren hill raise the battle flag! Shout to the soldiers and raise your arm as the signal for them to attack the gates of the proud city. ³ The Lord has called out his proud and confident soldiers to fight a holy war and punish those he is angry with.

⁴ Listen to the noise on the mountains—the sound of a great crowd of people, the sound of nations and kingdoms gathering. The Lord of Armies is preparing his troops for battle. ⁵ They are coming from far-off countries at the ends of the earth. In his anger the Lord is coming to devastate the whole country.

^6 (b)Howl in pain! The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. ⁷ Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail. ⁸ They will all be terrified and overcome with pain, like the pain of a woman in labor. They will look at each other in fear, and their faces will burn with shame. ⁹ The day of the Lord is coming—that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed. ^10 (c)Every star and every constellation will stop shining, the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light.

¹¹ The Lord says, "I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. ¹² Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. ¹³ I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the Lord Almighty, show my anger.

¹⁴ "The foreigners living in Babylon will run away to their homelands, scattering like deer escaping from hunters, like sheep without a shepherd. ¹⁵ Anyone who is caught will be stabbed to death. ¹⁶ While they look on helplessly, their babies will be battered to death, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped."

¹⁷ The Lord says, "I am stirring up the Medes^[a] to attack Babylon. They care nothing for silver and are not tempted by gold. ¹⁸ With their bows and arrows they will kill the young men. They will show no mercy to babies and take no pity on children. ^19 (d)Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all; it is the pride of its people. But I, the Lord, will overthrow Babylon as I did Sodom and Gomorrah! ²⁰ No one will ever live there again. No wandering Arab will ever pitch a tent there, and no shepherd will ever pasture a flock there. ^21 (e)It will be a place where desert animals live and where owls build their nests. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will prance through the ruins. ²² The towers and palaces will echo with the cries of hyenas and jackals. Babylon's time has come! Her days are almost over."