Isaiah 13:1-16

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw [in a prophetic vision]: Lift up a signal banner on the bare mountain, Summon them [the Medes and Persians] with a loud voice, Wave the [beckoning] hand so that they may enter the doorways of the [Babylonian] nobles. I [the LORD] have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My great warriors, My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]— To execute My anger. A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the uproar of the kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts is mustering an army for battle. They are coming from a distant country, From the end of heaven [the farthest horizon]— The LORD and the weapons of His indignation— To destroy the whole land. [Ps 19:4-6; Is 5:26] ORD Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)! [Gen 17:1] Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified, Pains and anguish will grip them; They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth. They will stare aghast and horrified at one another, Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare]. Listen carefully, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with wrath and raging anger, To make the land a horror [of devastation]; And He shall exterminate its sinners from it. [Is 2:10-22; Rev 19:11-21] For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash with their light; The sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light. In this way I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And will abase the arrogance of the tyrant. I will make mortal man more rare than fine gold, And mankind [scarcer] than the pure gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; And the earth will be shaken from its place At the wrath of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger. And like the hunted gazelle, Or like sheep that no man gathers, Each [foreign resident] will turn [and go back] to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. Anyone who is found will be pierced through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their children also will be smashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be looted And their wives ravished.