| New International Version | King James Bible |
| 1A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: | 1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. |
| 2Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles. | 2Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. |
| 3I have commanded those I prepared for battle; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath-- those who rejoice in my triumph. | 3I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. |
| 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. | 4The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. |
| 5They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens-- the LORD and the weapons of his wrath-- to destroy the whole country. | 5They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. |
| 6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. | 6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. |
| 7Because of this, all hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear. | 7Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: |
| 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. | 8And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. |
| 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. | 9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. |
| 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. | 10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. |
| 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. | 11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. |
| 12I will make people scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. | 12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. |
| 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. | 13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. |
| 14Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people, they will flee to their native land. | 14And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. |
| 15Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword. | 15Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. |
| 16Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated. | 16Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. |
| 17See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. | 17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. |
| 18Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children. | 18Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. |
| 19Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. | 19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. |
| 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. | 20It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. |
| 21But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about. | 21But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. |
| 22Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds, jackals her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged. | 22And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. |
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