An Oracle against Babylon

13 An oracle(A) against Babylon(B) that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

Lift up a banner on a barren mountain.(C)
Call out to them.
Wave your hand, and they will go
through the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded My chosen ones;
I have also called My warriors,
who exult in My triumph,
to execute My wrath.(D)
Listen, a tumult on the mountains,
like that of a mighty people!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations being gathered together!
The Lord of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.
They are coming from a far land,
from the distant horizon—
the Lord and the weapons of His wrath—
to destroy the whole country.[a]

Wail! For the day of the Lord is near.(E)
It will come like destruction from the Almighty.(F)
Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,
and every man’s heart will melt.
They will be horrified;
pain and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.(G)
They will look at each other,
their faces flushed with fear.
Look, the day(H) of the Lord is coming—
cruel, with rage and burning anger—
to make the earth a desolation
and to destroy the sinners on it.(I)
10 Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations[b]
will not give their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will not shine.(J)
11 I will bring disaster on the world,
and their own iniquity,(K) on the wicked.
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant(L)
and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.
12 I will make man scarcer than gold,
and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.(M)
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will shake from its foundations(N)
at the wrath of the Lord of Hosts,
on the day of His burning anger.
14 Like wandering gazelles
and like sheep without a shepherd,(O)
each one will turn to his own people,
each one will flee to his own land.
15 Whoever is found will be stabbed,
and whoever is caught will die by the sword.
16 Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes;(P)
their houses will be looted,
and their wives raped.
17 Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them,(Q)
who cannot be bought off with[c] silver
and who have no desire for gold.
18 Their bows will cut young men to pieces.
They will have no compassion on little ones;
they will not look with pity on children.

19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,
the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.(R)
20 It will never be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation;(S)
a nomad will not pitch his tent there,
and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.
21 But desert creatures will lie down there,
and owls will fill the houses.
Ostriches will dwell there,
and wild goats will leap about.(T)
22 Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,
and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time is almost up;
her days are almost over.

Israel’s Return

14 For the Lord will have compassion(U) on Jacob and will choose Israel again.(V) He will settle them on their own land.(W) The foreigner will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.(X) The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land.(Y) They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.

Downfall of the King of Babylon

When the Lord gives you rest from your pain,(Z) torment, and the hard labor(AA) you were forced to do, you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon(AB) and say:

How the oppressor has quieted down,
and how the raging[d] has become quiet!
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers.
It struck the peoples in anger
with unceasing blows.
It subdued the nations in rage
with relentless persecution.
All the earth is calm and at rest;
people shout with a ringing cry.
Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:(AC)
“Since you have been laid low,
no woodcutter has come against us.”

Sheol below is eager to greet your coming.
He stirs up the spirits of the departed for you—
all the rulers[e] of the earth.
He makes all the kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10 They all respond to you, saying:
“You too have become as weak as we are;
you have become like us!
11 Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out under you,
and worms cover you.”

12 Shining morning star,[f](AD)
how you have fallen from the heavens!(AE)
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13 You said to yourself:
“I will ascend to the heavens;(AF)
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.(AG)
I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.[g](AH)
14 I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit.(AI)

16 Those who see you will stare at you;
they will look closely at you:
“Is this the man who caused the earth to tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17 who turned the world into a wilderness,(AJ)
who destroyed its cities
and would not release the prisoners to return home?”
18 All the kings of the nations
lie in splendor, each in his own tomb.
19 But you are thrown out without a grave,
like a worthless branch,
covered by those slain with the sword
and dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse.
20 You will not join them in burial,
because you destroyed your land
and slaughtered your own people.
The offspring of evildoers
will never be remembered.(AK)
21 Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons,
because of the iniquity(AL) of their fathers.
They will never rise up to possess a land
or fill the surface of the earth with cities.

22 “I will rise up against them”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and I will cut off from Babylon her reputation, remnant, offspring, and posterity”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 23 “I will make her a swampland and a region for screech owls,[h] and I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction.”

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

Assyria Will Be Destroyed

24 The Lord of Hosts has sworn:

As I have purposed, so it will be;
as I have planned it, so it will happen.(AM)
25 I will break Assyria(AN) in My land;
I will tread him down on My mountain.
Then his yoke will be taken from them,
and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the plan(AO) prepared
for the whole earth,
and this is the hand stretched out
against all the nations.
27 The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it;
therefore, who can stand in its way?
It is His hand that is outstretched,
so who can turn it back?

An Oracle against Philistia

28 In the year that King Ahaz died,(AP) this oracle came:(AQ)

29 Don’t rejoice, all of you in Philistia,
because the rod of the one who struck you(AR) is broken.
For a viper will come from the root[i] of a snake,
and from its egg comes a flying serpent.(AS)
30 Then the firstborn(AT) of the poor will be well fed,
and the impoverished will lie down in safety,
but I will kill your root with hunger,
and your remnant will be slain.[j]
31 Wail, you gates!(AU) Cry out, city!
Tremble with fear,(AV) all Philistia!
For a cloud of dust is coming from the north,(AW)
and there is no one missing from the invader’s ranks.
32 What answer will be given to the messengers from that nation?
The Lord has founded Zion,(AX)
and His afflicted people find refuge in her.

An Oracle against Moab

15 An oracle against Moab:(AY)

Ar in Moab is devastated,(AZ)
destroyed in a night.
Kir in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night.
Dibon went up to its temple
to weep at its high places.
Moab wails on Nebo and at[k] Medeba.
Every head is shaved;
every beard is cut off.
In its streets they wear sackcloth;
on its rooftops and in its public squares everyone wails,
falling down and weeping.
Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.(BA)
Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out,
and they tremble.[l]
My heart cries out over Moab,
whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar,(BB)
to Eglath-shelishiyah;
they go up the slope of Luhith weeping;
they raise a cry of destruction
on the road to Horonaim.
The waters of Nimrim(BC) are desolate;
the grass is withered, the foliage is gone,
and the vegetation has vanished.
So they carry their wealth and belongings
over the Wadi of the Willows.(BD)
For their cry echoes
throughout the territory of Moab.
Their wailing reaches Eglaim;
their wailing reaches Beer-elim.
The waters of Dibon[m] are full of blood,(BE)
but I will bring on Dibon[n] even more than this—
a lion for those who escape from Moab,
and for the survivors in the land.(BF)

16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land,(BG)
from Sela in the desert(BH)
to the mountain of Daughter Zion.
Like a bird fleeing,
forced from the nest,
the daughters of Moab
will be at the fords of the Arnon.

Give us counsel and make a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade that is as dark as night.
Hide the refugees;(BI)
do not betray the one who flees.
Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for Moab[o] from the aggressor.

When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land.
Then in the tent of David
a throne will be established by faithful love.(BJ)
A judge who seeks what is right
and is quick to execute justice
will sit on the throne forever.

We have heard of Moab’s pride(BK)
how very proud he is—
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.
Therefore let Moab wail;
let every one of them wail for Moab.
Mourn, you who are completely devastated,
for the raisin cakes(BL) of Kir-hareseth.(BM)
For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards
and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled its choice vines
that reached as far as Jazer(BN)
and spread to the desert.
Their shoots spread out
and reached the Dead Sea.(BO)
So I join with Jazer
to weep for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears.
Triumphant shouts have fallen silent[p]
over your summer fruit and your harvest.
10 Joy and rejoicing(BP) have been removed from the orchard;
no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.(BQ)
No one tramples grapes[q] in the winepresses.
I have put an end to the shouting.
11 Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,(BR)
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.
12 When Moab appears on the high place,
when he tires[r] himself out(BS)
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.(BT)

13 This is the message that the Lord previously announced about Moab. 14 And now the Lord says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years,(BU) Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 13:5 Or earth
  2. Isaiah 13:10 Or Orions
  3. Isaiah 13:17 Lit who have no regard for
  4. Isaiah 14:4 DSS; Hb uncertain
  5. Isaiah 14:9 Lit rams
  6. Isaiah 14:12 Or Day Star, son of the dawn
  7. Isaiah 14:13 Or of Zaphon
  8. Isaiah 14:23 Or hedgehogs
  9. Isaiah 14:29 Or stock
  10. Isaiah 14:30 DSS, Syr, Tg; MT reads and he will kill
  11. Isaiah 15:2 Or wails over Nebo and over
  12. Isaiah 15:4 Lit out, he trembles within himself
  13. Isaiah 15:9 DSS, some LXX mss, Vg; MT reads Dimon
  14. Isaiah 15:9 DSS, some LXX mss, Vg; MT reads Dimon
  15. Isaiah 16:4 Or you; Moab—be a refuge for him
  16. Isaiah 16:9 Or Battle cries have fallen
  17. Isaiah 16:10 Lit wine
  18. Isaiah 16:12 DSS read place, he will tire

A Prophecy Against Babylon

13 A prophecy(A) against Babylon(B) that Isaiah son of Amoz(C) saw:(D)

Raise a banner(E) on a bare hilltop,
    shout to them;
beckon to them
    to enter the gates(F) of the nobles.
I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
    I have summoned my warriors(G) to carry out my wrath(H)
    those who rejoice(I) in my triumph.

Listen, a noise on the mountains,
    like that of a great multitude!(J)
Listen, an uproar(K) among the kingdoms,
    like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty(L) is mustering(M)
    an army for war.
They come from faraway lands,
    from the ends of the heavens(N)
the Lord and the weapons(O) of his wrath(P)
    to destroy(Q) the whole country.

Wail,(R) for the day(S) of the Lord is near;
    it will come like destruction(T) from the Almighty.[a](U)
Because of this, all hands will go limp,(V)
    every heart will melt with fear.(W)
Terror(X) will seize them,
    pain and anguish will grip(Y) them;
    they will writhe like a woman in labor.(Z)
They will look aghast at each other,
    their faces aflame.(AA)

See, the day(AB) of the Lord is coming
    —a cruel(AC) day, with wrath(AD) and fierce anger(AE)
to make the land desolate
    and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
    will not show their light.(AF)
The rising sun(AG) will be darkened(AH)
    and the moon will not give its light.(AI)
11 I will punish(AJ) the world for its evil,
    the wicked(AK) for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty(AL)
    and will humble(AM) the pride of the ruthless.(AN)
12 I will make people(AO) scarcer than pure gold,
    more rare than the gold of Ophir.(AP)
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;(AQ)
    and the earth will shake(AR) from its place
at the wrath(AS) of the Lord Almighty,
    in the day of his burning anger.(AT)

14 Like a hunted(AU) gazelle,
    like sheep without a shepherd,(AV)
they will all return to their own people,
    they will flee(AW) to their native land.(AX)
15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
    all who are caught will fall(AY) by the sword.(AZ)
16 Their infants(BA) will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
    their houses will be looted and their wives violated.(BB)

17 See, I will stir up(BC) against them the Medes,(BD)
    who do not care for silver
    and have no delight in gold.(BE)
18 Their bows(BF) will strike down the young men;(BG)
    they will have no mercy(BH) on infants,
    nor will they look with compassion on children.(BI)
19 Babylon,(BJ) the jewel of kingdoms,(BK)
    the pride and glory(BL) of the Babylonians,[b]
will be overthrown(BM) by God
    like Sodom and Gomorrah.(BN)
20 She will never be inhabited(BO)
    or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads(BP) will pitch their tents,
    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures(BQ) will lie there,
    jackals(BR) will fill her houses;
there the owls(BS) will dwell,
    and there the wild goats(BT) will leap about.
22 Hyenas(BU) will inhabit her strongholds,(BV)
    jackals(BW) her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,(BX)
    and her days will not be prolonged.(BY)

14 The Lord will have compassion(BZ) on Jacob;
    once again he will choose(CA) Israel
    and will settle them in their own land.(CB)
Foreigners(CC) will join them
    and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
Nations will take them
    and bring(CD) them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations(CE)
    and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives(CF) of their captors
    and rule over their oppressors.(CG)

On the day the Lord gives you relief(CH) from your suffering and turmoil(CI) and from the harsh labor forced on you,(CJ) you will take up this taunt(CK) against the king of Babylon:(CL)

How the oppressor(CM) has come to an end!
    How his fury[c] has ended!
The Lord has broken the rod(CN) of the wicked,(CO)
    the scepter(CP) of the rulers,
which in anger struck down peoples(CQ)
    with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(CR) nations
    with relentless aggression.(CS)
All the lands are at rest and at peace;(CT)
    they break into singing.(CU)
Even the junipers(CV) and the cedars of Lebanon
    gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
    no one comes to cut us down.”(CW)

The realm of the dead(CX) below is all astir
    to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(CY) to greet you—
    all those who were leaders(CZ) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
    all those who were kings over the nations.(DA)
10 They will all respond,
    they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
    you have become like us.”(DB)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(DC)
    along with the noise of your harps;(DD)
maggots are spread out beneath you
    and worms(DE) cover you.(DF)

12 How you have fallen(DG) from heaven,
    morning star,(DH) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!(DI)
13 You said in your heart,
    “I will ascend(DJ) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(DK)
    above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(DL)
    on the utmost heights(DM) of Mount Zaphon.[d]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(DN)
    I will make myself like the Most High.”(DO)
15 But you are brought down(DP) to the realm of the dead,(DQ)
    to the depths(DR) of the pit.(DS)

16 Those who see you stare at you,
    they ponder your fate:(DT)
“Is this the man who shook(DU) the earth
    and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(DV)
    who overthrew(DW) its cities
    and would not let his captives go home?”(DX)

18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
    each in his own tomb.(DY)
19 But you are cast out(DZ) of your tomb
    like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(EA)
    with those pierced by the sword,(EB)
    those who descend to the stones of the pit.(EC)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20     you will not join them in burial,(ED)
for you have destroyed your land
    and killed your people.

Let the offspring(EE) of the wicked(EF)
    never be mentioned(EG) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(EH)
    for the sins of their ancestors;(EI)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
    and cover the earth with their cities.

22 “I will rise up(EJ) against them,”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(EK) and survivors,
    her offspring and descendants,(EL)
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(EM)
    and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(EN)
    declares the Lord Almighty.(EO)

24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(EP)

“Surely, as I have planned,(EQ) so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(ER)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(ES) in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(ET) will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.(EU)

26 This is the plan(EV) determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand(EW) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(EX) and who can thwart him?
    His hand(EY) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(EZ)

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

28 This prophecy(FA) came in the year(FB) King Ahaz(FC) died:

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(FD)
    that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(FE)
    its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(FF)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
    and the needy(FG) will lie down in safety.(FH)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(FI)
    it will slay(FJ) your survivors.(FK)

31 Wail,(FL) you gate!(FM) Howl, you city!
    Melt away, all you Philistines!(FN)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(FO)
    and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(FP)
32 What answer shall be given
    to the envoys(FQ) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(FR)
    and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(FS)

A Prophecy Against Moab(FT)

15 A prophecy(FU) against Moab:(FV)

Ar(FW) in Moab is ruined,(FX)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir(FY) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
Dibon(FZ) goes up to its temple,
    to its high places(GA) to weep;
    Moab wails(GB) over Nebo(GC) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved(GD)
    and every beard cut off.(GE)
In the streets they wear sackcloth;(GF)
    on the roofs(GG) and in the public squares(GH)
they all wail,(GI)
    prostrate with weeping.(GJ)
Heshbon(GK) and Elealeh(GL) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.(GM)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

My heart cries out(GN) over Moab;(GO)
    her fugitives(GP) flee as far as Zoar,(GQ)
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim(GR)
    they lament their destruction.(GS)
The waters of Nimrim are dried up(GT)
    and the grass is withered;(GU)
the vegetation is gone(GV)
    and nothing green is left.(GW)
So the wealth they have acquired(GX) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer(GY) Elim.
The waters of Dimon[e] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon[f]
a lion(GZ) upon the fugitives of Moab(HA)
    and upon those who remain in the land.

16 Send lambs(HB) as tribute(HC)
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,(HD) across the desert,
    to the mount of Daughter Zion.(HE)
Like fluttering birds
    pushed from the nest,(HF)
so are the women of Moab(HG)
    at the fords(HH) of the Arnon.(HI)

“Make up your mind,” Moab says.
    “Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
    at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,(HJ)
    do not betray the refugees.
Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
    be their shelter(HK) from the destroyer.”

The oppressor(HL) will come to an end,
    and destruction will cease;(HM)
    the aggressor will vanish from the land.
In love a throne(HN) will be established;(HO)
    in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
    one from the house[g] of David(HP)
one who in judging seeks justice(HQ)
    and speeds the cause of righteousness.

We have heard of Moab’s(HR) pride(HS)
    how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
    but her boasts are empty.
Therefore the Moabites wail,(HT)
    they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
    for the raisin cakes(HU) of Kir Hareseth.(HV)
The fields of Heshbon(HW) wither,(HX)
    the vines of Sibmah(HY) also.
The rulers of the nations
    have trampled down the choicest vines,(HZ)
which once reached Jazer(IA)
    and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread out(IB)
    and went as far as the sea.[h](IC)
So I weep,(ID) as Jazer weeps,
    for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,(IE)
    I drench you with tears!(IF)
The shouts of joy(IG) over your ripened fruit
    and over your harvests(IH) have been stilled.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;(II)
    no one sings or shouts(IJ) in the vineyards;
no one treads(IK) out wine at the presses,(IL)
    for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moab(IM) like a harp,(IN)
    my inmost being(IO) for Kir Hareseth.
12 When Moab appears at her high place,(IP)
    she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine(IQ) to pray,
    it is to no avail.(IR)

13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,(IS) as a servant bound by contract(IT) would count them,(IU) Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,(IV) and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”(IW)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 13:6 Hebrew Shaddai
  2. Isaiah 13:19 Or Chaldeans
  3. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  4. Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
  5. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  6. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  7. Isaiah 16:5 Hebrew tent
  8. Isaiah 16:8 Probably the Dead Sea

13 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.

The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.

They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:

And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.

16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

14 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,

That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.

He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.

19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.

21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.

22 For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.

23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.

24 The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.

27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.

29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.

30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.

31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

15 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;

He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.

In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.

And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.

My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.

For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.

Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.

For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim.

For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

16 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.

Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.

Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.

10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.

11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.

12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

13 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.

14 But now the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.