An Oracle against Babylon

1An •oraclea against Babylonb that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

2Lift up a banner on a barren mountain.c

Call out to them.

Wave your hand, and they will go

through the gates of the nobles.

3I have commanded My chosen ones;

I have also called My warriors,

who exult in My triumph,

to execute My wrath.d

4Listen, a tumult on the mountains,

like that of a mighty people!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,

like nations being gathered together!

The LORD of •Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

5They are coming from a far land,

from the distant horizon —

the LORD and the weapons of His wrath —

to destroy the whole country.e

6Wail! For the day of the LORD is near.f

It will come like destruction from the •Almighty.g

7Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,

and every man’s heart will melt.

8They will be horrified;

pain and agony will seize them;

they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.h

They will look at each other,

their faces flushed with fear.

9Look, the dayi of the LORD is coming —

cruel, with rage and burning anger —

to make the earth a desolation

and to destroy the sinners on it.j

10Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellationsk

will not give their light.

The sun will be dark when it rises,

and the moon will not shine.l

11I will bring disaster on the world,

and their own iniquity,m on the wicked.

I will put an end to the pride of the arrogantn

and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.

12I will make man scarcer than gold,

and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.o

13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,

and the earth will shake from its foundationsp

at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts,

on the day of His burning anger.

14Like wandering gazelles

and like sheep without a shepherd,q

each one will turn to his own people,

each one will flee to his own land.

15Whoever is found will be stabbed,

and whoever is caught will die by the sword.

16Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes;r

their houses will be looted,

and their wives raped.

17Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them,s

who cannot be bought off witht silver

and who have no desire for gold.

18Their bows will cut young men to pieces.

They will have no compassion on little ones;

they will not look with pity on children.

19And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,

the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,

will be like Sodom and Gomorrah

when God overthrew them.u

20It will never be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation;v

a nomad will not pitch his tent there,

and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.

21But desert creatures will lie down there,

and owls will fill the houses.

Ostriches will dwell there,

and wild goats will leap about.w

22Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,

and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.

Babylon’s time is almost up;

her days are almost over.