1The burden of Babylon , which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see . 2Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain , exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand , that they may go into the gates of the nobles . 3I have commanded my sanctified ones , I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger , even them that rejoice in my highness . 4The noise of a multitude in the mountains , like as of a great people ; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together : the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle . 5They come from a far country , from the end of heaven , even the LORD , and the weapons of his indignation , to destroy the whole land .
The Day of the Lord
6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand ; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty . 7Therefore shall all hands be faint , and every man’s heart shall melt : 8And they shall be afraid : pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth : they shall be amazed one at another ; their faces shall be as flames . 9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh , cruel both with wrath and fierce anger , to lay the land desolate : and he shall 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 his going forth , and the moon shall not cause her 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 precious than fine gold ; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir . 13Therefore I will shake the heavens , and the earth shall remove out of her place , in the wrath of the LORD of hosts , and in the day of his fierce anger .
The Desolation of Babylon
14And it shall be as the chased roe , and as a sheep that no man taketh up : they shall every man turn to his own people , and flee every one into his own land . 15Every one that is found shall be thrust through ; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword . 16Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes ; their houses shall be spoiled , and their wives ravished . 17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver ; and as for gold , they shall not delight in it. 18Their bows also shall dash the young men to 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 Chaldees’ excellency , 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 the shepherds make their fold there. 21But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses , and dragons in their pleasant palaces : and her time is near to come , and her days shall not be prolonged .