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An Oracle Concerning Babylon

¹ The ^(F1)(C1)oracle concerning ^(C2)Babylon which ^(C3)Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld.

^2 (C1)Lift up a standard on the ^(F1)(C2)bare hill,
Heighten your voice at them,
^(C3)Wave the hand that they may ^(C4)enter the doors of the nobles.

³ I have commanded My set apart ones,
I have even called My ^(C1)mighty warriors,
My ^(F1)proudly exulting ones,
To execute My anger.

⁴ A ^(C1)sound 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 ^(C1)end of the sky,
Yahweh and His instruments of ^(C2)indignation,
To ^(C3)wreak destruction on the whole land.

⁶ Wail, for the ^(C1)day of Yahweh is near!
It will come as ^(C2)destruction from ^(F1)the Almighty.

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

⁸ They will be ^(C1)terrified,
Pains and labor pangs will take hold of them;
They will ^(C2)writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.

⁹ Behold, ^(C1)the 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 ^(C1)stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light;
The ^(C2)sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.

¹¹ Thus I will ^(C1)punish the world for its evil
And the ^(C2)wicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the ^(C3)pride of the arrogant
And bring low the ^(C4)lofty pride of the ^(F1)(C5)ruthless.

¹² I will make mortal man ^(F1)(C1)scarcer than fine gold
And mankind than the ^(C2)gold of Ophir.

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

¹⁴ And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,
Or like ^(C1)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 ^(C1)pierced through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

¹⁶ Their ^(C1)infants also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished.

¹⁷ Behold, I am going to ^(C1)awaken the Medes against them,
Who will not think about silver or ^(C2)take pleasure in gold.

¹⁸ And their bows will dash the ^(C1)young men to pieces,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their ^(C2)eye pity ^(F1)children.

¹⁹ And it will be that ^(C1)Babylon, the ^(C2)beauty of kingdoms, the ^(F1)honor of the Chaldeans' pride,
Will be as when God ^(C3)overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

²⁰ It will ^(C1)never be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation;
Nor will the ^(F1)(C2)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.

²¹ But ^(C1)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of ^(F1)owls;
Ostriches also will dwell there, and ^(F2)shaggy goats will leap there.

^22 (F1)And hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious ^(C1)palaces.
Her fateful time also ^(F2)will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged.