| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon: | 1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received: |
| 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. | 2Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. |
| 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.” | 3I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph. |
| 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. | 4Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war. |
| 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. | 5They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country. |
| 6Scream in terror, for the day of the LORD has arrived— the time for the Almighty to destroy. | 6Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty. |
| 7Every arm is paralyzed with fear. Every heart melts, | 7Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt. |
| 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. | 8Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear. |
| 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. | 9Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it. |
| 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. | 10For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. |
| 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. | 11I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless. |
| 12I will make people scarcer than gold— more rare than the fine gold of Ophir. | 12I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir. |
| 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.” | 13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger. |
| 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. | 14Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land. |
| 15Anyone who is captured will be cut down— run through with a sword. | 15Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword. |
| 16Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped. | 16Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished. |
| 17“Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon. They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold. | 17Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold. |
| 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.” | 18Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children. |
| 19Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. | 19And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. |
| 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. | 20She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there. |
| 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. | 21But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about. |
| 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. | 22Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged. |
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