| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. | 1An oracle against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: |
| 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. | 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 have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. | 3I have commanded My chosen ones; I have also called My warriors, who exult in My triumph, to execute My wrath. |
| 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. | 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 far country, from the end of heaven, even 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. |
| 6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. | 6Wail! For the day of the LORD is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty. |
| 7Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: | 7Therefore everyone's hands will become weak, and every man's heart will melt. |
| 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. | 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 cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. | 12I will make man scarcer than gold, and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 15Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. | 15Whoever is found will be stabbed, and whoever is caught will die by the sword. |
| 16Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, 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 will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. | 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 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. | 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 beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. | 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 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. | 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 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. | 21But desert creatures will lie down there, and owls will fill the houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about. |
| 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. | 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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