Isaiah 13
13
Pronouncement of Judgment on Babylon
1This is the prophecy against Babylon # 13:1 This verse begins a new section of Isaiah (chs. 13–23) that contains ten prophecies against ten nations. Babylon (related to Babel) means “confusion” and points to the political and religious confusion and disorder among the nations. This prophecy against Babylon was spoken by Isaiah at least 174 years before Babylon fell in 536 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus described the city of Babylon as 15 miles (24.14 kilometers) wide on each side with walls that were more than 85 feet (25.91 meters) thick and 350 feet (106.68 meters) high. It had one hundred gates to the city and was the commercial center of the ancient Near East. In the book of Revelation, Babylon becomes a metaphor for the world’s political and religious system. See Isa. 46–47; Rev. 18. that God revealed to Isaiah, son of Amoz:
2“Raise high a signal flag on a barren hilltop! Shout out!
Beckon my armies to invade the gates of the nobles,
3for I have given orders to my consecrated ones.
I have summoned my mighty heroes,
those who rejoice in my triumph,
that they may execute my anger.” # 13:3 These were God’s armies consecrated by him to carry out his judgment on Babylon. God was mustering his army from among the Medes to invade Babylon (see v. 17; 21:2).
4Listen! A thunderous noise is heard on the mountain,
like that of a massive multitude.
Listen! Kingdoms are in an uproar;
nations are assembling together.
The almighty Lord Yahweh is mustering an army for war.
5They are coming from a faraway land,
from the end of the heavens. # 13:5 Or possibly “horizon.” See Joel 2:1–10; 2 Thess. 1:7–10; Judah (Jude) 14–15. The heavenly sons and daughters of God are also consecrated ones, mighty ones, and warriors who rejoice in his triumph.
Here comes Yahweh with his instruments of judgment,
ready to ravage the entire land. # 13:5 Or “all the earth.”
6Wail, for the day of the Lord Yahweh is near!
It will come with the destructive power of Shaddai.
7For this reason, every hand will go limp
and every heart will melt.
8All the Babylonians will be seized with panic and pain.
Anguish will grip them like a woman in labor.
They will look at one another with astonishment,
and their faces will be flames of fire!
9Behold! The day of the Lord is coming
with pitiless fury and fierce anger.
The land will be made desolate,
destroying the sinners who inhabit it.
10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations # 13:10 Or “Orion.” See Joel 2:31; Amos 5:8; Matt. 24:29; Acts 2:20; Heb. 12:26–29. Stars may also be a metaphor for false teachers (see Judah [Jude] 13) and constellations a metaphor for fellowships (networks, denominations).
will not give their light.
The rising sun will be obscured, and the moon won’t shine.
11“I will bring punishment to the world for its evil
and to the wicked for their sins.
I will shatter the arrogance of the proud,
and will humble the pride of the high and mighty. # 13:11 Or “tyrants.”
12I will make a person scarcer than fine gold
and people rarer than a wedge of gold from Ophir. # 13:12 A region on the southern coast of Arabia.
13Therefore, I will make the heavens shudder
and the earth shake from its foundation
because of the wrath of the Lord, Commander of Angel Armies,
in the day of his fierce anger.
14Like a hunted gazelle, each will return to his own people,
and like sheep with no one to gather them,
each will flee to his native land.
15Captured ones will be slain,
and those who are caught will die by the sword.
16Their infants will be dashed to pieces
before their very eyes. # 13:16 See Ps. 137:9.
Their houses will be looted and their wives raped. # 13:16 See Zech. 14:2.
17Behold! I am stirring up the Medes # 13:17 The Medes were people who lived on the Zagros Mountains, in present-day central Iran. against them,
who neither value silver nor delight in gold.
18They will slaughter the young men, # 13:18 Or “With their bows they will strike down the young [men].”
and show no pity on infants nor compassion on children.”
19God will overthrow Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
the splendor and pride of the Babylonians,
exactly as he did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
20Babylon will never rise again,
nor will she be inhabited for many generations.
Bedouins will not even pitch their tents there,
and shepherds will refuse to rest their flocks there.
21Wild animals will roam there,
and their vacant houses will be overrun by eerie creatures # 13:21 Or “wild dogs” or “hyenas.” —
nothing but owls # 13:21 Or “ostriches” or “skunks.” and goat-shaped demons # 13:21 Or “satyrs.” (See Koehler and Baumgartner’s Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Leiden, 1958, 926, and A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, 1980, 972.) dancing!
22Hyenas will howl in her houses,
and jackals will make their dens in her palaces.
Babylon’s time is up, and her days are numbered!
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Isaiah 13: TPT
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