## An Oracle Concerning Babylon 

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The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld. 

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Lift up a standard on the bare hill, Heighten your voice at them, Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles. 

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I have commanded My set apart ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, To _execute_ My anger. 

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A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the rumbling of kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! Yahweh of hosts is mustering the host for battle. 

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They are coming from a far country, From the end of the sky, Yahweh and His instruments of indignation, To wreak destruction _on_ the whole land. 

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Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 

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Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt. 

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They will be terrified, Pains and labor pangs will take hold of _them_; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. 

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

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

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Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the pride of the arrogant And bring low the lofty pride of the ruthless. 

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I will make mortal man scarcer than fine gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 

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Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of Yahweh of hosts In the day of His burning anger. 

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And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather _them_, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. 

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Anyone who is found will be pierced through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 

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Their infants also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished. 

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Behold, I am going to awaken the Medes against them, Who will not think about silver or take pleasure in gold. 

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And _their_ bows will dash the young men to pieces, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, _Nor_ will their eye pity children. 

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And it will be that Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the honor of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 

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It will never be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch _his_ tent there, Nor will shepherds make _their flocks_ lie down there. 

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But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will dwell there, and shaggy goats will leap there. 

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And hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her _fateful_ time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged.