Study Desk

The ^(C1)pronouncement concerning ^(C2)Babylon which ^(C3)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:

^(C1)Lift up a flag on the ^(F1)(C2)bare hill, Raise your voice to them, ^(C3)Wave the hand that they may ^(C4)enter the doors of the nobles.

I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have also called for My ^(C1)warriors Who boast in My eminence, To execute My anger.

A ^(C1)sound of a roar on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of an uproar of kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The LORD of armies is mustering the army for battle.

They are coming from a distant country, From the ^(F1)(C1)farthest horizons, The LORD and the weapons of His ^(C2)indignation, To ^(C3)destroy the whole land.

Wail, for the ^(C1)day of the LORD is near! It will come as ^(C2)destruction from ^(F1)the Almighty.

Therefore ^(C1)all hands will fall limp, And every human ^(C2)heart will melt.

They will be ^(C1)terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will ^(C2)writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.

Behold, ^(C1)the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.

For the ^(C1)stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash their light; The ^(C2)sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.

So I will ^(C1)punish the world for its evil And the ^(C2)wicked for their wrongdoing; I will also put an end to the ^(C3)audacity of the proud And humiliate the ^(C4)arrogance of the ^(F1)(C5)tyrants.

I will make mortal man ^(C1)scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the ^(C2)gold of Ophir.

Therefore I will make the ^(C1)heavens tremble, And ^(C2)the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of armies In ^(C3)the day of His burning anger.

And it will be that, like a hunted gazelle, Or like ^(C1)sheep with no one to gather them, Each of them will turn to his own people, And each of them will flee to his own land.

Anyone who is found will be ^(C1)thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

Their ^(C1)little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives raped.

Behold, I am going to ^(C1)stir up the Medes against them, Who will not value silver or ^(C2)take pleasure in gold.

And their bows will ^(F1)mow down the ^(C1)young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their ^(C2)eye pity ^(F2)children.

And ^(C1)Babylon, the ^(C2)beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God ^(C3)overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

It will ^(C1)never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the ^(C2)Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds allow their flocks to lie down there.

But ^(C1)desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of ^(F1)owls; Ostriches also will live there, and ^(F2)shaggy goats will frolic there.

^(F1)Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious ^(C1)palaces. Her fateful time also ^(F2)will soon come, And her days will not be prolonged.