1A prophecy concerning Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.

2Upon the bare mountain lift up a banner; Cry aloud to them, wave the hand, That they may enter the gates of the tyrants!

3I have given orders to my consecrated ones, Yea, I have called upon my mighty ones to execute mine anger, My proud exulters!

4The noise of a multitude upon the mountains, like that of a great people! The tumultuous noise of kingdoms, of nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts mustereth his army for battle.

5They come from a distant country, From the end of Heaven, Jehovah and the instruments of his indignation. To lay waste the whole land.

6Howl ye, for the day of Jehovah is at hand! Like a destruction from the Almighty, it cometh;

7Therefore shall all hands hang down, And every heart of man shall melt.

8They shall be in consternation; Distress and anguish shall lay hold of them; As a woman in travail shall they writhe; They shall look upon one another with amazement: Their faces shall glow like flames.

9Behold! the day of Jehovah cometh, Terrible, full of wrath and burning indignation, To make the land a waste, And to destroy the sinners out of it.

10For the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, Shall not give their light; The sun shall be darkened at his going forth, And the moon shall withhold her light.

11For I will punish the world for its guilt, And the wicked for their iniquity. I will put an end to the arrogance of the proud, And I will bring down the haughtiness of the tyrants.

12I will make men scarcer than gold; Yea, men than the gold of Ophir.

13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth shall be shaken out of her place, In the anger of Jehovah of hosts, In the day of his burning indignation.

14Then shall they be like a chased doe; Like a flock, which no one gathereth together; Every one shall turn to his own people, And every one flee to his own land.

15Every one that is overtaken shall be thrust through, And every one that is caught shall fall by the sword.

16Their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished.

17Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, Who make no account of silver, And as to gold, they do not regard it.

18Their bows shall strike down the young men, And on the fruit of the womb they shall have no compassion; Their eye shall not pity the children.

19So shall Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The proud ornament of the Chaldeans, Be like Sodom and Gomorrah, which God overthrew,

20It shall never more be inhabited; Nor shall it be dwelt in through all generations. Nor shall the Arabian pitch his tent there, Nor shall shepherds make their folds there.

21But there shall the wild beasts of the desert lodge, And owls shall fill their houses; And ostriches shall dwell there, And satyrs shall dance there.

22Wolves shall howl in their palaces, And jackals in their pleasant edifices. Her time is near, And her days shall not be prolonged.