Isaiah 13:1-22 NASBS

[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. [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. [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.