Isaiah

The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

1This is the message about Babylon that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw.

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.

2Raise a flag on the bare hilltop. Shout to the soldiers. Wave your hand so they march through the gates where the rulers live.

3I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.

3God says: I have given orders to the men I set apart. I called my warriors to carry out my anger, and they are glad to serve me.

Note"Sanctified ones" does not mean holy or good people here. It means soldiers set apart for a task, the way an army is prepared for a mission.

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.

4Listen! A roar in the mountains, like a huge crowd. Listen! Kingdoms and nations gathering with a loud noise. The LORD of Armies is getting his army ready for war.

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.

5They come from a distant land, from the far edge of the sky. The LORD comes with the weapons of his anger, to destroy the whole country.

6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

6Cry out loud, because the day of the LORD is almost here. It will come as ruin from the Almighty.

7Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

7So every hand will hang limp, and every man's courage will drain away.

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.

8They will be terrified. Pain and grief will grab them, like a woman giving birth. They will stare at each other, their faces red with fear.

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.

9Look, the day of the LORD is coming. It is harsh, full of fury and burning anger. It will leave the land empty and destroy the sinners in 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.

10The stars in the sky and their patterns will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not 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.

11God says: I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will stop the bragging of the proud and bring down the pride of cruel men.

12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

12I will make people so few that a single person will be harder to find than pure gold, rarer than gold from Ophir.

Note"More precious than fine gold" means rare, not valuable. So many people will die that finding one will be harder than finding gold.

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.

13So I will make the sky tremble, and the earth will shake out of its place, because the LORD of Armies is furious on the day of his burning anger.

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.

14The people will be like a deer being hunted, like sheep with no shepherd. Each one will run back to his own people and 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.

15Anyone who is caught will be stabbed. Anyone who is captured will be killed with a sword.

16Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

16Their little children will be smashed to pieces while they watch. Their homes will be robbed and their wives raped.

17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

17Look, I will stir up the Medes to attack them. They do not care about silver, and gold does not tempt them.

NoteThe Medes were a people from what is now Iran. They helped conquer Babylon.

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.

18Their arrows will cut down the young men. They will show no mercy to babies and no pity to children.

19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

19Babylon is the finest of kingdoms, the proud jewel of the Chaldeans. God will overthrow it as he 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.

20No one will ever live there again, not in any generation to come. No desert traveler will set up a tent there. No shepherd will rest his flock 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.

21Instead, desert animals will lie down there. Howling creatures will fill the houses. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will leap about.

NoteThe old English words "owls" and "satyrs" are guesses at animal names we can no longer identify for certain. Older Hebrew scholars read them as ostriches and wild goats.

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.

22Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, and jackals in her fancy palaces. Babylon's time is almost here. Her days will not be stretched out.