Isaiah 13:1-16

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

13:1 ¹ This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz: ² 

13:2 ³ On a bare hill raise a signal flag,

shout to them,

wave your hand,

so they might enter the gates of the princes!

13:3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; ⁴ 

I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, ⁵ 

my boasting, arrogant ones. ⁶ 

13:4 ⁷ There is a loud noise on the mountains –

it sounds like a large army! ⁸ 

There is great commotion among the kingdoms ⁹  –

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. ¹⁰ 

It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, ¹¹ 

coming to destroy the whole earth. ¹² 

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

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ¹⁴ 

13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, ¹⁵ 

every human heart loses its courage. ¹⁶ 

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. ¹⁷ 

13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment ¹⁸  is coming;

it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, ¹⁹ 

destroying ²⁰  the earth ²¹ 

and annihilating its sinners.

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

no longer give out their light; ²² 

the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,

and the moon does not shine. ²³ 

13:11 ²⁴ I will punish the world for its evil, ²⁵ 

and wicked people for their sin.

I will put an end to the pride of the insolent,

I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. ²⁶ 

13:12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold,

and people more scarce ²⁷  than gold from Ophir.

13:13 So I will shake the heavens, ²⁸ 

and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, ²⁹ 

because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies,

in the day he vents his raging anger. ³⁰ 

13:14 Like a frightened gazelle ³¹ 

or a sheep with no shepherd,

each will turn toward home, ³² 

each will run to his homeland.

13:15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed;

everyone who is seized ³³  will die ³⁴  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.

[13:1]  ¹ sn Isa 13-23 contains a series of judgment oracles against various nations. It is likely that Israel, not the nations mentioned, actually heard these oracles. The oracles probably had a twofold purpose. For those leaders who insisted on getting embroiled in international politics, these oracles were a reminder that Judah need not fear foreign nations or seek international alliances for security reasons. For the righteous remnant within the nation, these oracles were a reminder that Israel’s God was indeed the sovereign ruler of the earth, worthy of his people’s trust.

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] [about] Babylon which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.”

[13:2]  ³ sn The Lord is speaking here (see v. 3).

[13:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “my consecrated ones,” i.e., those who have been set apart by God for the special task of carrying out his judgment.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “my warriors with respect to my anger.”

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the boasting ones of my pride”; cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV “my proudly exulting ones.”

[13:4]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “a sound, a roar [is] on the mountains, like many people.”

[13:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “a sound, tumult of kingdoms.”

[13:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”

[13:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”

[13:5]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[13:6]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”

[13:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).

[13:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

[13:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”

[13:9]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “making desolate.”

[13:9]  ²¹ tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).

[13:10]  ²² tn Heb “do not flash forth their light.”

[13:10]  ²³ tn Heb “does not shed forth its light.”

[13:11]  ²⁴ sn The Lord is definitely speaking (again?) at this point. See the note at v. 4.

[13:11]  ²⁵ tn Or “I will bring disaster on the world.” Hebrew רָעָה (ra’ah) could refer to the judgment (i.e., disaster, calamity) or to the evil that prompts it. The structure of the parallel line favors the latter interpretation.

[13:11]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; cf. NASB, NIV “the ruthless.”

[13:12]  ²⁷ tn The verb is supplied in the translation from the first line. The verb in the first line (“I will make scarce”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.

[13:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[13:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “from its place” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV).

[13:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and in the day of the raging of his anger.”

[13:14]  ³¹ tn Or “like a gazelle being chased.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[13:14]  ³² tn Heb “his people” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “his nation” (cf. TEV “their own countries”).

[13:15]  ³³ tn Heb “carried off,” i.e., grabbed from the fleeing crowd. See HALOT 764 s.v. ספה.

[13:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “will fall” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NLT “will be run through with a sword.”