131 The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw . 2 Lift up a standard on the bare hill , Raise your voice to them, Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles . 3 I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors , My proudly exulting ones , To execute My anger . 4 A sound of tumult on the mountains , Like that of many people ! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms , Of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle . 5 They are coming from a far country , From the farthest horizons , The Lord and His instruments of indignation , To destroy the whole land .
6 Wail , for the day of the Lord is near ! It will come as destruction from the Almighty . 7 Therefore e all hands will fall limp , And every man's heart will melt . 8 They will be terrified , Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor , They will look at one another in astonishment , Their faces aflame . 9 Behold , the day of the Lord is coming , Cruel , with fury and burning anger , To make the land a desolation ; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light ; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light . 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity ; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless . 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir . 13 Therefore e I will make the heavens tremble , And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the Lord of hosts In the day of His burning anger . 14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle , Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people , And each one flee to his own land . 15 Anyone who is found will be thrust through , And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword . 16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes ; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished . 17 Behold , I am going to stir up the Medes against them, Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold . 18 And their bows will mow down the young men , They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb , Nor will their eye pity children .
19 And Babylon , the beauty of kingdoms , the glory of the Chaldeans' pride , Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah . 20 It will never e be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation ; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there , Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there . 21 But desert creatures will lie down there , And their houses will be full of owls ; Ostriches also will live there , and shaggy goats will frolic there . 22 Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces . Her fateful time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged .
