International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
1A message that Amoz's son Isaiah received about Babylon: | 1Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon: |
2"Raise a banner on a bare hilltop! Cry out loud to them! Give a wave of the hand, signaling for them to enter the gates of the nobles. | 2“Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty. |
3I myself have commanded my consecrated ones; I have also summoned my warriors, those who rejoice in my triumph, to carry out my angry judgments. | 3I, the LORD, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted.” |
4"Listen! There's a noise on the mountains like that of a great multitude! Listen! There's an uproar among the kingdoms, like that of nations massing together! The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is mustering an army for battle. | 4Hear the noise on the mountains! Listen, as the vast armies march! It is the noise and shouting of many nations. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has called this army together. |
5They're coming from a faraway land, from the distant horizon— the LORD and the weapons of his anger— to destroy the entire land." | 5They come from distant countries, from beyond the farthest horizons. They are the LORD’s weapons to carry out his anger. With them he will destroy the whole land. |
6Wail out loud, because the Day of the LORD is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty! | 6Scream in terror, for the day of the LORD has arrived— the time for the Almighty to destroy. |
7Because of this, every hand will go limp, and every man's courage will melt. | 7Every arm is paralyzed with fear. Every heart melts, |
8They will be terrified; pain and anguish will seize them; they'll writhe like a woman in labor. They'll look aghast at one another; and their faces will be ablaze with fear. | 8and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labor. They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear. |
9Watch out! The Day of the LORD is coming— cruel, with wrath and fierce anger— to turn the entire inhabited earth into a desolation and to annihilate sinners from it. | 9For see, the day of the LORD is coming— the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it. |
10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations won't shine their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon won't shine its light. | 10The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light. |
11I'll punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I'll put an end to the pomposity of the arrogant, and overthrow the insolence of tyrants. | 11“I, the LORD, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty. |
12I'll make people scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than gold from Ophir. | 12I will make people scarcer than gold— more rare than the fine gold of Ophir. |
13Therefore I'll make the heavens tremble. The earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, at the time of his burning anger. | 13For I will shake the heavens. The earth will move from its place when the LORD of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath in the day of his fierce anger.” |
14They will be like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with no one to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. | 14Everyone in Babylon will run about like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd. They will try to find their own people and flee to their own land. |
15Whoever is captured will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall dead, killed by the sword. | 15Anyone who is captured will be cut down— run through with a sword. |
16Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, and their houses will be looted, and their wives slept with. | 16Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped. |
17Watch out! I'm stirring up the Medes against them, who care nothing for silver and take no delight in gold. | 17“Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon. They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold. |
18Their bows will dash the young men to pieces; they'll show no pity on those not yet born, and their eyes will not spare children. | 18The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.” |
19Babylon, that jewel of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, when God overthrew them— | 19Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. |
20It will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Bedouin will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. | 20Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep. |
21But desert beasts will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there owls will dwell, and goat-demons will dance there. | 21Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance. |
22Hyenas will howl in its strongholds, and jackals will make their dens in its citadels. Its time is close at hand, and its days will not be extended any further. | 22Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon’s days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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