1 The oracle {massa: prophetic pronouncement} concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz {ben amotz: ancestral identifier} saw.
2 On a bare mountain ridge, lift up a banner {nes: rallying signal}; raise your voice to them, wave your hand, so they may enter the gates of the nobles {nedivim: ruling dignitaries}.
3 I {YHWH, Sovereign Commander} have given command to my consecrated ones, and I have also called my mighty ones for my anger, those who exult in my majesty {ga'avah: exalted splendor}.
4 The sound of an uproar rises in the mountains, like the likeness of a great people; the voice of kingdoms in tumult, nations being gathered; the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tzvaot, Commander of Armies} is mustering the army for battle {milchamah: war engagement}.
5 They come from a distant land, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD{YHWH, Divine Warrior} and the instruments of His indignation{za’amo: burning wrath}, to destroy all the land.
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} is near; as devastation {shod: sudden ruin}, it will come from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands {yadayim: paired hands} will become weak, and every human heart {levav: innermost feelings} will melt.
8 And they will be dismayed; birth-pangs {tzirim: Intense Distress} and sorrows will seize them. Like a woman in childbirth, they will writhe; each man will be appalled at his companion, their faces like flames {lehabim: Burning Intensity}.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} comes—cruel {akhzari: ruthless severity}, with wrath and burning anger—to make the land desolate, and He will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations {kesil: constellations} will not give their light; the sun is darkened in its rising {betzeto: going forth}, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 And I {YHWH, Divine Judge} will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will bring low the haughtiness of the ruthless {aritzim: violent oppressors}.
12 I {YHWH, Divine Judge} will make a man {enosh: frail humanity} rarer than fine gold; and mankind rarer than the pure gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth will quake from its place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tseva’ot, Divine Warrior}, and in the day of His fierce anger {appo: overflowing indignation}.
14 And it will be like a gazelle driven away {mudakh: forcibly scattered}, and like sheep with no one to gather them; each man will turn back to his own people, and each will flee {yanusu: urgent flight} to his own land.
15 Everyone found {nimtsa: discovered} shall be pierced {yidaker: driven through}, and everyone who is caught up shall fall by the sword.
16 And their infants {olleleihem: small children} will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be ravished {tishgalnah: violated by force}.
17 Behold, I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} am stirring up the Medes {Madai: ancient people of Media} against them, who will not regard silver nor delight in gold.
18 And bows {qeshetot: war implements} will shatter young men, and they will show no compassion for the fruit of the womb {pri-beten: unborn offspring}; their eyes will not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the splendor {tiferet: magnificent display} of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be like the overthrow by God {Elohim, Supreme Judge} of Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 She shall never be inhabited, and she shall not be settled from generation to generation; neither shall an Arab {aravi: nomadic traveler} pitch a tent there, nor shall shepherds {roim: flock guardians} make their flocks lie down there.
21 And wild creatures {tziyim: desert dwellers} will lie down there, and their houses will be filled with shrieking creatures; ostriches will settle there, and satyrs {useirim: hairy demons} will dance there.
22 And wild creatures will cry out in its towers{almenotav: deserted towers}, and jackals in the palaces of delight{oneg: luxurious pleasure}; her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.