Isaiah 13:14-22

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.

13:19 Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms,

the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride,

will be destroyed by God

just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

13:20 No one will live there again;

no one will ever reside there again.

No bedouin will camp there,

no shepherds will rest their flocks there.

13:21 Wild animals will rest there,

the ruined houses will be full of hyenas.

Ostriches will live there,

wild goats will skip among the ruins.

13:22 Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses,

jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces.

Her time is almost up,

her days will not be prolonged.