Isaiah 13

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

1This is a heavy message about the city of Babylon. Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw it. Isaiah was a prophet, someone who told people what God said.

Note"Burden" in the old English here means a heavy message from God about what will happen to a place.

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 a bare hilltop. Shout out loud to the soldiers. Wave your hand so they march through the gates of the great men.

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 set apart my own soldiers. I have called my strong fighters to carry out my anger. They are glad that I am great."

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 loud noise on the mountains, like a huge crowd. Kingdom after kingdom is coming together. The LORD of Hosts, the LORD who commands armies, is gathering soldiers 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 lands far away, from where the sky seems to end. The LORD comes too, with the weapons of his anger, to destroy the whole land.

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

6Cry out loud! The day of the LORD is close. It will come as ruin from the Almighty, the God who has all power.

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

7So every hand will hang down weak. Every person's heart will melt with fear.

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 afraid. Sharp pain will grab them, like a woman having a baby. They will stare at each other. Their faces will be red and burning.

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 cruel, full of hot anger. It will leave the land empty. God will destroy the sinners who live there.

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 and their star patterns will not shine. The sun will be dark when it comes up. The moon will give no light.

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. I will punish wicked people for their sin. I will stop proud people from bragging. I will bring down cruel people who think they are big."

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

12God says, "So few people will be left that a person will be harder to find than pure gold. A person will be rarer than gold from Ophir."

NoteThe KJV says God will make a man "more precious than fine gold." The picture is that so few people will be left that a person will be harder to find than gold. Ophir was a faraway place known for very fine 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.

13God says, "So I will shake the heavens. The earth will be shaken out of its place." This happens on the day when the LORD of Hosts burns with 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.

14People will run like a hunted deer, like sheep with no shepherd. Each one will go back to his own people. Each one will run home to 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 taken away 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 houses will be robbed. Their wives will be 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.

17God says, "Look, I will send the Medes against them." The Medes were a people from the east. They do not care about silver. Gold gives them no joy.

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 bows will strike down the young men. They will show no kindness to babies. They will not spare the 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 all kingdoms. It is the proud beauty of the Chaldeans, the people who lived there. God will throw it down, as he did to 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 for many, many years. No traveler will put up a tent there. No shepherd will rest his sheep 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.

21Wild desert animals will lie down there. Howling animals will fill the houses. Ostriches will live there. Wild goats will jump around there.

NoteThe KJV names "owls" and "satyrs" here. The old Hebrew words are names for desert animals, and modern Bibles say 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 strong towers. Jackals will call in her fine palaces. Babylon's time is almost here. Her days will not be made longer.