1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see . 2Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain , lift up the voice unto them , wave the hand , that they may go into the gates of the nobles . 3I have commanded my consecrated ones , yea , I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even my proudly exulting ones . 4The noise of a multitude in the mountains , as of a great people ! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together ! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle . 5They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven , even Jehovah , and the weapons of his indignation , to destroy the whole land .
The Day of the Lord
6Wail ye ; for the day of Jehovah is at hand ; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 7Therefore shall all hands be feeble , and every heart of man shall melt : 8and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them ; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail : they shall look in amazement one at another ; their faces shall be faces of flame . 9Behold , the day of Jehovah cometh , cruel, with wrath and fierce anger ; to make the land a desolation , and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it . 10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light ; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth , and the moon shall not cause its light to shine . 11And I will punish the world for their evil , and the wicked for their iniquity : and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease , and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible . 12I will make a man more rare than fine gold , even a man than the pure gold of Ophir. 13Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble , and the earth shall be shaken out of its place , in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts , and in the day of his fierce anger .
The Desolation of Babylon
14And it shall come to pass , that as the chased roe , and as sheep that no man gathereth , they shall turn every man to his own people , and shall flee every man to his own land. 15Every one that is found shall be thrust through ; and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword . 16Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes ; their houses shall be rifled , and their wives ravished . 17Behold , I will stir up the Medes against them , who shall not regard silver , and as for gold , they shall not delight in it . 18And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces ; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children . 19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms , the beauty of the Chaldeans ’ pride , shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah . 20It shall never be inhabited , neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation : neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there . 21But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there , and wild goats shall dance there . 22And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces : and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged .