Isaiah 13:4-10

13:4 ¹ There is a loud noise on the mountains –

it sounds like a large army! ² 

There is great commotion among the kingdoms ³  –

nations are being assembled!

The Lord who commands armies is mustering

forces for battle.

13:5 They come from a distant land,

from the horizon. ⁴ 

It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, ⁵ 

coming to destroy the whole earth. ⁶ 

13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment ⁷  is near;

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ⁸ 

13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, ⁹ 

every human heart loses its courage. ¹⁰ 

13:8 They panic –

cramps and pain seize hold of them

like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.

They look at one another in astonishment;

their faces are flushed red. ¹¹ 

13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment ¹²  is coming;

it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, ¹³ 

destroying ¹⁴  the earth ¹⁵ 

and annihilating its sinners.

13:10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations

no longer give out their light; ¹⁶ 

the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,

and the moon does not shine. ¹⁷ 

[13:4]  ¹ sn In vv. 4-10 the prophet appears to be speaking, since the Lord is referred to in the third person. However, since the Lord refers to himself in the third person later in this chapter (see v. 13), it is possible that he speaks throughout the chapter.

[13:4]  ² tn Heb “a sound, a roar [is] on the mountains, like many people.”

[13:4]  ³ tn Heb “a sound, tumult of kingdoms.”

[13:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”

[13:5]  ⁵ tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”

[13:5]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “land” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT). Even though the heading and subsequent context (see v. 17) indicate Babylon’s judgment is in view, the chapter has a cosmic flavor that suggests that the coming judgment is universal in scope. Perhaps Babylon’s downfall occurs in conjunction with a wider judgment, or the cosmic style is poetic hyperbole used to emphasize the magnitude and importance of the coming event.

[13:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[13:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.

[13:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”

[13:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).

[13:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

[13:9]  ¹² tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”

[13:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “[with] cruelty, and fury, and rage of anger.” Three synonyms for “anger” are piled up at the end of the line to emphasize the extraordinary degree of divine anger that will be exhibited in this judgment.

[13:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “making desolate.”

[13:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).

[13:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “do not flash forth their light.”

[13:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “does not shed forth its light.”