1. The conquest of Babylon that Isaiah foresaw.
2. Upon the vast mountain raise a flag,
call
to them in a loud voice,
wave to them a
hand,
as they enter through the gates of authority.*
3.
I have invited* my saints,*
and called on the giants of my wrath
and
those most loyal* to me.
4. The sound of an uprising in the
mountain,
like that of many nations,
the sound of
the rising of the nations' kingdoms
that have gathered --
the
Almighty Lord has mustered the powers.
5. The sword men come from
afar,
and from the edges* of heaven: the Lord,
together
with the vessels of his wrath,
to destroy the whole earth.
6.
Bewail [your fate,]
for the Day of the Lord is near,
like
the plunder that comes out of stillness.
7. That is why all hands
shall lose their grip,
and all hearts shall sink and lay awash in
fear;
8. And the throes of pain* seize them,
like
a woman in travail,*
and a man wonders about his friend,
their
faces cleaving like the flames of fire.
9. Behold, the Day of the
Lord shall arrive,
a Day that has no cure,
and
with a blazing anger;
they shall rend the earth to oblivion,
together
with its sins.*
10. Because the stars of heaven
and
their powers do not shine,
the sun remains dark as it comes out,
and
the light of the moon does not shine.
11. Evil shall rule over
the universe
and upon the depraved their abomination;
the
haughtiness of the arrogant shall be nullified,
and the bravado
of the heroes shall be humbled.
12. And a man regards his worth
in gold
and a human being in the gold that turns to dust.
13.
That is why he shook the heavens,
and the earth was shaken from
its place,
by the outcry of the Almighty Lord,
on
the Day of his wrath's rising.*
14. And they shall be like the
gazelle in flight
and like the sheep that has no shepherd,*
a
human being returns to his nation
and a man runs to his land.
15.
Whoever seeks [plunder] is affected,
and whoever grows rich shall
fall by the sword.
16. And their children shall seize their
flocks
and plunder their houses,
and their women
shall be violated.
17. Behold, I will expose you to the Medes,
who
have no regard for money
and no passion for gold.
18.
They will break the bows of youth,
and upon the fruit of the
belly they have no mercy,
and upon your children their eyes do
not linger.
19. And Babylon shall become the power seat of
kingdoms,
and the glory of the Chaldean hegemony,
whence
God revisited Sodom and Gomorrah.
20. For it will neither stand
forever,*
nor will they find there rest for centuries;
neither
will the Arabs settle there,
nor will they find pasture.
21.
Except it shall become the breeding ground for wild creatures,
and
they shall fill their houses with noise,
and there will rest
there the owls,
and there the demons shall dance.
22.
And there shall reply to their sirens, screaming out,
and the
jackals shall dwell in their summer palaces;
for blessed is the
season that follows,
and its Days shall not come to an end.
*13:1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Gates of authorities."
*13:3.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Commanded."
*13:3.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Blessed."
*13.3.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Deeply committed."
*13:5 Lit. Ar. id.: "Lips."
*13:8.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Pangs and throes."
*13:8.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Like a birther."
*13:9 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "Subjugate the earth to destruction and its sins disappear from it."
*13:13 Lit. Ar. id.: "Heating."
*13:14 Lit. Ar. id.: Gatherer."
*13:20 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "It will not sit to [the end of] the universe."