The Judgment of Babylon

13 The oracle concerning fBabylon which gIsaiah the son of Amoz saw.

2  On a bare hill hraise a signal;

cry aloud to them;

wave the hand for ithem to enter

the gates of the nobles.

3  I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,

and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,

my proudly exulting ones.1

4  The sound jof a tumult is on the mountains

as of a great multitude!

The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,

of nations gathering together!

kThe Lord of hosts is mustering

a host for battle.

5  lThey come from a distant land,

from the end of the heavens,

the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,

to destroy the whole land.2

6  mWail, for nthe day of the Lord is near;

as destruction from the Almighty3 it will come!

7  Therefore all hands will be feeble,

and every human heart owill melt.

8  They will be dismayed:

ppangs and agony will seize them;

qthey will be in anguish like a woman in labor.

They will look aghast at one another;

their faces will be aflame.

9  Behold, nthe day of the Lord comes,

cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,

to make the land a desolation

and rto destroy its sinners from it.

10  sFor the stars of the heavens and their constellations

will not give their light;

tthe sun will be dark at its rising,

and the moon will not shed its light.

11  I will punish uthe world for its evil,

and the wicked for their iniquity;

I will vput an end to the pomp of the arrogant,

wand lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.