CHAPTER 13
Raise
a banner
on
a barren
hilltop;
call aloud
to them.
Wave
your hand,
that they may enter
the gates
of the nobles.
I
have commanded
My sanctified ones;
I have even
summoned
My warriors
to execute My wrath
and exult
in My triumph.
Listen,
a tumult
on the mountains,
like that
of a great
multitude!
Listen,
an uproar
among the kingdoms,
like nations
gathered together!
The LORD
of Hosts
musters
an army
for war.
They are coming
from faraway
lands,
from the ends
of the heavens—
the LORD
and the weapons
of His wrath—
to destroy
the whole
country.
Terror,
pain,
and anguish
will seize them;
they will writhe
like a woman in labor.
They will look in astonishment at
one
another,
their faces
aflame
with fear.
Behold,
the Day
of the LORD
is coming—
cruel,
with fury
and burning anger—
to make
the earth
a desolation
and to destroy
the sinners
within it.
For
the stars
of heaven
and their constellations
will not
give
their light.
The sun
will be darkened
when it rises,
and the moon
will not
give
its light.
I will punish
the world
for its evil,
and
the wicked
for their iniquity.
I will end
the haughtiness
of the arrogant
and humiliate
the pride
of tyrants.
Therefore
I will make the heavens
tremble,
and the earth
will be shaken
from its place
at the wrath
of the LORD
of Hosts
on the day
of His burning anger.
Like a hunted
gazelle
and like a sheep
without
a shepherd,
each
will return
to
his own people,
each
will flee
to
his native land.
Their infants
will be dashed to pieces
before their eyes,
their houses
will be looted,
and their wives
will be ravished.
Behold,
I will stir up
against them
the Medes,
who
have no
regard
for silver
and no
desire
for gold.
Their bows
will dash young men
to pieces;
they will have no
mercy
on the fruit
of the womb;
they will not
look with pity
on
the children.
And Babylon,
the jewel
of the kingdoms,
the glory
of the pride
of the Chaldeans,
will be
overthrown
by God
like Sodom
and Gomorrah.
She will never
be inhabited
or
settled
from
generation
to generation;
no
nomad
will pitch his tent
there,
no
shepherd
will rest his flock
there.
But desert creatures
will lie down
there,
and howling creatures
will fill
her houses.
The owls
will dwell
there,
and wild goats
will leap about.
Hyenas
will howl
in her fortresses
and jackals
in her luxurious
palaces.
Babylon’s time
is at hand,
and her days
will not
be prolonged.