What is the meaning of Isaiah 13:15?

Whoever is caught

Isaiah is announcing God’s imminent judgment on Babylon. “Caught” pictures people overtaken by invading armies before they can flee.

• The warning is personal: anyone still inside the city when God’s wrath falls will not escape (cf. Jeremiah 51:31–32; Revelation 18:4).

• It shows divine thoroughness—no hiding place or partial exemption (Psalm 139:7–12 reminds us God sees all).

• Like the flood in Noah’s day, the judgment arrives suddenly and comprehensively (Matthew 24:38-39).

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will be stabbed

The phrase speaks of close-range, violent death by the conquering forces.

• God often employs human armies as instruments of His justice (Isaiah 10:5-6; Habakkuk 1:6-8).

• This fulfills the principle that “whatever a man sows, he will reap” (Galatians 6:7). Babylon had stabbed others; now the same returns upon her (Jeremiah 50:15).

• It reminds believers that sin’s wages are real and terrible (Romans 6:23).

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and whoever is captured

Those not immediately slain become prisoners.

• Capture suggests total defeat—strength, walls, alliances all prove useless (Psalm 20:7).

• God’s sovereignty over nations means even mighty Babylon can be led away like sheep (Isaiah 46:1-2).

• The humiliation mirrors Israel’s earlier exile, proving God judges impartially (Jeremiah 25:29).

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will die by the sword

Prisoners ordinarily expect mercy, yet here even captives face execution.

• The sword symbolizes divine sentence carried out without delay (Ezekiel 21:3-5).

• Babylon’s brutality toward others (2 Kings 25:7) boomerangs on her (Jeremiah 50:29).

• The verse anticipates final judgment when all unrepentant rebels meet the “sword from His mouth” (Revelation 19:15).

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summary

Isaiah 13:15 gives a stark, literal snapshot of God’s holy wrath against Babylon: no one caught inside the city, whether slain on the spot or taken prisoner, will survive. The verse underscores God’s absolute justice, the certainty of reaping what is sown, and the futility of trusting human strength. While aimed at an ancient empire, the warning stands for every generation—sin invites judgment, and only refuge in the Lord provides true safety (Proverbs 18:10; John 3:18).