Isaiah 13
BSB
The Burden against Babylon
1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
2Raise a banner on a barren hilltop;
call aloud to them.
Wave your hand,
that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
3I have commanded My sanctified ones;
I have even summoned My warriors
to execute My wrath
and exult in My triumph.
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 are coming from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens—
the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—
to destroy the whole country.
6Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near;
it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7Therefore all hands will fall limp,
and every man’s heart will melt.
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.
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.
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.
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 man scarcer than pure gold,
and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.
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.
14Like a hunted gazelle,
like a sheep without a shepherd,
each will return to his own people,
each will flee to his native land.
15Whoever is caught will be stabbed,
and whoever is captured will die by the sword.
16Their infants will be dashed to pieces
before their eyes,
their houses will be looted,
and their wives will be ravished.
17Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who have no regard for silver
and no desire for gold.
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.
19And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,
the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,
will be overthrown by God
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
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.
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 her fortresses
and jackals in her luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged.
Introduction
Isaiah 13
Hitherto the prophecies of this book related only to Judah and Israel, and Jerusalem especially; but now the prophet begins to look abroad, and to read the doom of divers of the neighbouring states and kingdoms: for he that is King of saints is also King of nations, and rules in the affairs of the children of men as well as in those of his own children. But the nations to whom these prophecies do relate were all such as the people of God were in some way or other conversant and concerned with, such as had been kind or unkind to Israel, and accordingly God would deal with them, either in favour or in wrath; for the Lord's portion is his people, and to them he has an eye in all the dispensations of his providence concerning those about them, Deu 32:8, Deu 32:9. The threatenings we find here against Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Tyre, etc., were intended for comfort to those in Israel that feared God, but were terrified and oppressed by those potent neighbours, and for alarm to those among them that were wicked. If God would thus severely reckon with those for their sins that knew him not, and made no profession of his name, how severe would he be with those that were called by his name and yet lived in rebellion against him! And perhaps the directing of particular prophecies to the neighbouring nations might invite some of those nations to the reading of the Jews' Bible, and so they might be brought to their religion. This chapter, and that which follows, contain what God had to say to Babylon and Babylon's king, who were at present little known to Israel, but would in process of time become a greater enemy to them than any other had been, for which God would at last reckon with them. In this chapter we have, I. A general rendezvous of the forces that were to be employed against Babylon (Isa 13:1-5). II. The dreadfully bloody work that those forces should make in Babylon (Isa 13:6-18). III. The utter ruin and desolation of Babylon, which this should end in (Isa 13:19-22).
Cross-references: Deut 32:8 · Deut 32:9 · Isa 13:1 · Isa 13:6 · Isa 13:19