Isaiah 13:6–16

^6*Howl in pain! The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. ^7*Everyone’s hands will hang limp, and everyone’s courage will fail. ^8*They will all be terrified and overcome with pain, like the pain of a woman in labour. They will look at each other in fear, and their faces will burn with shame. ^9*The day of the Lord is coming—that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed. ^10*Every star and every constellation will stop shining, the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light.

^11*The Lord says, “I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. ^12*Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. ^13*I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the Lord Almighty, show my anger.

^14*“The foreigners living in Babylon will run away to their own countries, scattering like deer escaping from hunters, like sheep without a shepherd. ^15*Anyone who is caught will be stabbed to death. ^16*While they look on helplessly, their babies will be battered to death, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.”