New King James Version

New International Version

Proclamation Against Babylon

The burden[a] against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

A Prophecy Against Babylon

A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

“Lift up a banner on the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

2

Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to them;
beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.

3

I have commanded My [b]sanctified ones;
I have also called My mighty ones for My anger —
Those who rejoice in My exaltation.”

3

I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath —
those who rejoice in my triumph.

4

The noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts musters
The army for battle.

4

Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty is mustering
an army for war.

5

They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven —
The Lord and His [c]weapons of indignation,
To destroy the whole land.

5

They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens —
the Lord and the weapons of his wrath —
to destroy the whole country.

6

Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

6

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.a

7

Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,

7

Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every heart will melt with fear.

8

And they will be afraid.
Pangs[d] and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.

8

Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.

9

Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.

9

See, the day of the Lord is coming
— a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger —
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.

10

For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

10

The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.

11

“I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the [e]terrible.

11

I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

12

I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.

12

I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.

13

Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in the day of His fierce anger.

13

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.

14

It shall be as the hunted gazelle,
And as a sheep that no man [f]takes up;
Every man will turn to his own people,
And everyone will flee to his own land.

14

Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd,
they will all return to their own people,
they will flee to their native land.

15

Everyone who is found will be thrust through,
And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

15

Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
all who are caught will fall by the sword.

16

Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished.

16

Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

17

“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not [g]regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.

17

See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who do not care for silver
and have no delight in gold.

18

Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.

18

Their bows will strike down the young men;
they will have no mercy on infants,
nor will they look with compassion on children.

19

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

19

Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
the pride and glory of the Babylonians,b
will be overthrown by God
like Sodom and Gomorrah.

20

It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.

20

She will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads will pitch their tents,
there no shepherds will rest their flocks.

21

But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,
And their houses will be full of [h]owls;
Ostriches will dwell there,
And wild goats will caper there.

21

But desert creatures will lie there,
jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
and there the wild goats will leap about.

22

The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged.”

22

Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,
jackals her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged.

Parallel

New King James Version

New International Version

Isaiah 13

Isaiah 13