| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 1The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. | 1The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. |
| 2“Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. | 2On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles. |
| 3I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— Those who rejoice in My exaltation.” | 3I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proudly exulting ones. |
| 4The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters The army for battle. | 4The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The LORD of hosts is mustering a host for battle. |
| 5They come from a far country, From the end of heaven— The LORD and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land. | 5They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. |
| 6Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. | 6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! |
| 7Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt, | 7Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. |
| 8And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. | 8They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. |
| 9Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. | 9Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. |
| 10For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. | 10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. |
| 11“I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. | 11I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. |
| 12I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. | 12I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. |
| 13Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger. | 13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. |
| 14It shall be as the hunted gazelle, And as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, And everyone will flee to his own land. | 14And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. |
| 15Everyone who is found will be thrust through, And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. | 15Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. |
| 16Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished. | 16Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. |
| 17“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it. | 17Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. |
| 18Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children. | 18Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. |
| 19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. | 19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. |
| 20It will never be inhabited, Nor will it be settled from generation to generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. | 20It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. |
| 21But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, And wild goats will caper there. | 21But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance. |
| 22The hyenas will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, And her days will not be prolonged.” | 22Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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