| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz: | 1A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: |
| 2On a bare hill raise a signal flag, shout to them, wave your hand, so they might enter the gates of the princes! | 2Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles. |
| 3I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, my boasting, arrogant ones. | 3I have commanded those I prepared for battle; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath-- those who rejoice in my triumph. |
| 4There is a loud noise on the mountains--it sounds like a large army! There is great commotion among the kingdoms--nations are being assembled! The LORD who commands armies is mustering forces for battle. | 4Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war. |
| 5They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the LORD with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth. | 5They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens-- the LORD and the weapons of his wrath-- to destroy the whole country. |
| 6Wail, for the LORD's day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. | 6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. |
| 7For this reason all hands hang limp, every human heart loses its courage. | 7Because of this, all hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear. |
| 8They panic--cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red. | 8Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. |
| 9Look, the LORD's day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners. | 9See, the day of the LORD is coming --a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. |
| 10Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine. | 10The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. |
| 11I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. | 11I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. |
| 12I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir. | 12I will make people scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. |
| 13So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the LORD who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger. | 13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger. |
| 14Like a frightened gazelle or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, each will run to his homeland. | 14Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people, they will flee to their native land. |
| 15Everyone who is caught will be stabbed; everyone who is seized will die by the sword. | 15Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword. |
| 16Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped. | 16Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated. |
| 17Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold. | 17See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. |
| 18Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; they have no compassion on a person's offspring, they will not look with pity on children. | 18Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children. |
| 19Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms, the Chaldeans' source of honor and pride, will be destroyed by God just as Sodom and Gomorrah were. | 19Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. |
| 20No one will live there again; no one will ever reside there again. No bedouin will camp there, no shepherds will rest their flocks there. | 20She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; there no nomads will pitch their tents, there no shepherds will rest their flocks. |
| 21Wild animals will rest there, the ruined houses will be full of hyenas. Ostriches will live there, wild goats will skip among the ruins. | 21But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about. |
| 22Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses, jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. Her time is almost up, her days will not be prolonged. | 22Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds, jackals her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged. |
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