Isaiah 13:14-18

13:14 Like a frightened gazelle

or a sheep with no shepherd,

each will turn toward home,

each will run to his homeland.

13:15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed;

everyone who is seized will die by the sword.

13:16 Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes;

their houses will be looted

and their wives raped.

13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them;

they are not concerned about silver,

nor are they interested in gold.

13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons;

they have no compassion on a person’s offspring,

they will not look with pity on children.

Isaiah 21:1-10

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea:

Like strong winds blowing in the south,

one invades from the desert,

from a land that is feared.

21:2 I have received a distressing message:

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!”

21:3 For this reason my stomach churns;

cramps overwhelm me

like the contractions of a woman in labor.

I am disturbed by what I hear,

horrified by what I see.

21:4 My heart palpitates,

I shake in fear;

the twilight I desired

has brought me terror.

21:5 Arrange the table,

lay out the carpet,

eat and drink!

Get up, you officers,

smear oil on the shields!

21:6 For this is what the sovereign master has told me:

“Go, post a guard!

He must report what he sees.

21:7 When he sees chariots,

teams of horses,

riders on donkeys,

riders on camels,

he must be alert,

very alert.”

21:8 Then the guard cries out:

“On the watchtower, O sovereign master,

I stand all day long;

at my post

I am stationed every night.

21:9 Look what’s coming!

A charioteer,

a team of horses.”

When questioned, he replies,

“Babylon has fallen, fallen!

All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

21:10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor,

what I have heard

from the Lord who commands armies,

the God of Israel,

I have reported to you.

Isaiah 47:1-15

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!

Remove your veil,

strip off your skirt,

expose your legs,

cross the streams!

47:3 Let your private parts be exposed!

Your genitals will be on display!

I will get revenge;

I will not have pity on anyone,”

47:4 says our protector –

the Lord who commands armies is his name,

the Holy One of Israel.

47:5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’

47:6 I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy;

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people.

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’

You did not think about these things;

you did not consider how it would turn out.

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly,

who lives securely,

who says to herself,

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed.

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies,

despite your many incantations

and your numerous amulets.

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds;

you thought, ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away.

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it.

47:12 Persist in trusting your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful –

maybe you will scare away disaster.

47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice.

Let them take their stand –

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions –

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you!

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy.

47:15 They will disappoint you,

those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth.

Each strays off in his own direction,

leaving no one to rescue you.”

Jeremiah 25:26

25:26 all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath, the king of Babylon must drink it.

Jeremiah 50:31

50:31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,”

says the Lord God who rules over all.

“Indeed, your day of reckoning has come,

the time when I will punish you.

Revelation 17:16-17

17:16 The ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. 17:17 For God has put into their minds to carry out his purpose by making a decision to give their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

Revelation 18:8-10

18:8 For this reason, she will experience her plagues in a single day: disease, mourning, and famine, and she will be burned down with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”

18:9 Then the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. 18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,

“Woe, woe, O great city,

Babylon the powerful city!

For in a single hour your doom has come!”