| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. | 1An oracle against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: |
| 2On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles. | 2Lift up a banner on a barren mountain. Call out to them. Wave your hand, and they will go through the gates of the nobles. |
| 3I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proudly exulting ones. | 3I have commanded My chosen ones; I have also called My warriors, who exult in My triumph, to execute My wrath. |
| 4The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The LORD of hosts is mustering a host for battle. | 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 come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. | 5They are coming from a far land, from the distant horizon-- the LORD and the weapons of His wrath-- to destroy the whole country. |
| 6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! | 6Wail! For the day of the LORD is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty. |
| 7Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. | 7Therefore everyone's hands will become weak, and every man's heart will melt. |
| 8They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. | 8They will be horrified; pain and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look at each other, their faces flushed with fear. |
| 9Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. | 9Look, the day of the LORD is coming-- cruel, with rage and burning anger-- to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it. |
| 10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. | 10Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shine. |
| 11I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. | 11I will bring disaster on the world, and their own iniquity, on the wicked. I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and humiliate the insolence of tyrants. |
| 12I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. | 12I will make man scarcer than gold, and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir. |
| 13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. | 13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will shake from its foundations at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts, on the day of His burning anger. |
| 14And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. | 14Like wandering gazelles and like sheep without a shepherd, each one will turn to his own people, each one will flee to his own land. |
| 15Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. | 15Whoever is found will be stabbed, and whoever is caught will die by the sword. |
| 16Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. | 16Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes; their houses will be looted, and their wives raped. |
| 17Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. | 17Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them, who cannot be bought off with silver and who have no desire for gold. |
| 18Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. | 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 glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. | 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. |
| 20It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. | 20It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; a nomad will not pitch his tent there, and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there. |
| 21But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance. | 21But desert creatures will lie down there, and owls will fill the houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about. |
| 22Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged. | 22Hyenas will howl in the fortresses, and jackals, in the luxurious palaces. Babylon's time is almost up; her days are almost over. |
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