as of a vast multitude.
Hark! An uproar among kingdoms,
as of nations assembling:
Jehovah of Hosts is marshaling an army for war.
5 They come from a distant land beyond the horizon—
Jehovah and the instruments of his wrath—
to cause destruction throughout the earth.
6 Lament, for the Day of Jehovah is near;
it shall come as a violent blow from the Almighty.
7 Then shall every hand grow weak
and the hearts of all men melt.
8 They shall be terrified, in throes of agony,
seized with trembling like a woman in labor.
Men will look at one another aghast,
their faces set aflame.
9 The Day of Jehovah shall come
as a cruel outburst of anger and wrath
to make the earth a desolation,
that sinners may be annihilated from it.
10 The stars and constellations of the heavens
will not shine.
When the sun rises, it shall be obscured;
nor will the moon give its light.
11 I have decreed calamity for the world,
punishment for the wicked;
I will put an end to the arrogance of insolent men
and humble the pride of tyrants.
12 I will make mankind scarcer than fine gold,
men more rare than gold of Ophir.
13 I will cause disturbance in the heavens
when the earth is jolted out of place
by the anger of Jehovah of Hosts
in the day of his blazing wrath.
14 Then, like a deer that is chased,
or a flock of sheep that no one rounds up,
each will return to his own people
and everyone flee to his homeland.
15 Whoever is found shall be thrust through;
all who are caught shall fall by the sword.
16 Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes,
their homes plundered, their wives ravished.
17 See, I stir up against them the Medes,
who do nor value silver, nor covet gold.
18 Their bows shall tear apart the young.
They will show no mercy to the newborn;
their eye will not look with compassion on children.
19 And Babylon, the most splendid of kingdoms,
the glory and pride of Chaldeans, shall be thrown down
as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 Never shall it be reinhabited;
it shall not be resettled through all generations.
Nomads will not pitch their tents there,
nor will shepherds rest their flocks in it.
21 But wild animals will infest it,
and its buildings overflow with weasels;
birds of prey will find lodging there
and demonic creatures prance about in it.
22 Jackals will cry out from its palaces,
howling creatures from its amusement halls.
Her time draws near;
Babylon’s days shall not be prolonged.
(Isaiah 13)
