Isaiah 13:1-22

God showed Isaiah son of Amoz this message about Babylon: Raise a flag on the bare mountain. Call out to the men. Raise your hand to signal them to enter through the gates for important people. I myself have commanded those people whom I have separated as mine. I have called those warriors to carry out my anger. They rejoice and are glad to do my will. Listen to the loud noise in the mountains, the sound of many people. Listen to the noise among the kingdoms, the sound of nations gathering together. The LORD All-Powerful is calling his army together for battle. This army is coming from a faraway land, from the edge of the horizon. In anger the LORD is using this army like a weapon to destroy the whole country. Cry, because the LORD’s day of judging is near; the Almighty is sending destruction. People will be weak with fear, and their courage will melt away. Everyone will be afraid. Pain and hurt will grab them; they will hurt like a woman giving birth to a baby. They will look at each other in fear, with their faces red like fire. Look, the LORD’s day of judging is coming— a terrible day, a day of God’s anger. He will destroy the land and the sinners who live in it. The stars will not show their light; the skies will be dark. The sun will grow dark as it rises, and the moon will not give its light. The LORD says, “I will punish the world for its evil and wicked people for their sins. I will cause proud people to lose their pride, and I will destroy the pride of those who are cruel to others. People will be harder to find than pure gold; there will be fewer people than there is fine gold in Ophir. I will make the sky shake, and the earth will be moved from its place by the anger of the LORD All-Powerful at the time of his burning anger. “Then the people from Babylon will run away like hunted deer or like sheep who have no shepherd. Everyone will turn back to his own people; each will run back to his own land. Everyone who is captured will be killed; everyone who is caught will be killed with a sword. Their little children will be beaten to death in front of them. Their houses will be robbed and their wives raped. “Look, I will cause the armies of Media to attack Babylon. They do not care about silver or delight in gold. Their soldiers will shoot the young men with arrows; they will show no mercy on children, nor will they feel sorry for little ones. Babylon is the most beautiful of all kingdoms, and the Babylonians are very proud of it. But God will destroy it like Sodom and Gomorrah. No one will ever live there or settle there again. No Arab will put a tent there; no shepherd will bring sheep there. Only desert animals will live there, and their houses will be full of wild dogs. Owls will live there, and wild goats will leap about in the houses. Wolves will howl within the strong walls, and wild dogs will bark in the beautiful buildings. The end of Babylon is near; its time is almost over.”