| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz: | 1Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon: |
| 2On a bare hill raise a signal flag, shout to them, wave your hand, so they might enter the gates of the princes! | 2“Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty. |
| 3I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, my boasting, arrogant ones. | 3I, the LORD, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted.” |
| 4There is a loud noise on the mountains--it sounds like a large army! There is great commotion among the kingdoms--nations are being assembled! The LORD who commands armies is mustering forces for battle. | 4Hear the noise on the mountains! Listen, as the vast armies march! It is the noise and shouting of many nations. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has called this army together. |
| 5They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the LORD with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth. | 5They come from distant countries, from beyond the farthest horizons. They are the LORD’s weapons to carry out his anger. With them he will destroy the whole land. |
| 6Wail, for the LORD's day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. | 6Scream in terror, for the day of the LORD has arrived— the time for the Almighty to destroy. |
| 7For this reason all hands hang limp, every human heart loses its courage. | 7Every arm is paralyzed with fear. Every heart melts, |
| 8They panic--cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red. | 8and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labor. They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear. |
| 9Look, the LORD's day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners. | 9For see, the day of the LORD is coming— the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it. |
| 10Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine. | 10The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light. |
| 11I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. | 11“I, the LORD, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty. |
| 12I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir. | 12I will make people scarcer than gold— more rare than the fine gold of Ophir. |
| 13So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the LORD who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger. | 13For I will shake the heavens. The earth will move from its place when the LORD of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath in the day of his fierce anger.” |
| 14Like a frightened gazelle or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, each will run to his homeland. | 14Everyone in Babylon will run about like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd. They will try to find their own people and flee to their own land. |
| 15Everyone who is caught will be stabbed; everyone who is seized will die by the sword. | 15Anyone who is captured will be cut down— run through with a sword. |
| 16Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped. | 16Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped. |
| 17Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold. | 17“Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon. They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold. |
| 18Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; they have no compassion on a person's offspring, they will not look with pity on children. | 18The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.” |
| 19Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms, the Chaldeans' source of honor and pride, will be destroyed by God just as Sodom and Gomorrah were. | 19Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. |
| 20No one will live there again; no one will ever reside there again. No bedouin will camp there, no shepherds will rest their flocks there. | 20Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep. |
| 21Wild animals will rest there, the ruined houses will be full of hyenas. Ostriches will live there, wild goats will skip among the ruins. | 21Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance. |
| 22Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses, jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. Her time is almost up, her days will not be prolonged. | 22Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon’s days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive. |
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