1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 2 Set ye up an ensign upon the high mountain, lift up the voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded My consecrated ones, yea, I have called My mighty ones for mine anger, even My proudly exulting ones. 4 Hark, a tumult in the mountains, like as of a great people! Hark, the uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole earth. 6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 7 Therefore shall all hands be slack, and every heart of man shall melt. 8 And they shall be affrighted; pangs and throes shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail; they shall look aghast one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel, and full of wrath and fierce anger; to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it, 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11 And I will visit upon the world their evil, and upon the wicked their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants. 12 I will make man more rare than fine gold, even man than the pure gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, for the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and for the day of His fierce anger. 14 And it shall come to pass, that as the chased gazelle, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is caught shall fall by the sword. 16 Their babes also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21 But wild-cats shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of ferrets; and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22 And jackals shall howl in their castles, and wild-dogs in the pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Isaiah 13 JPS Tanakh (1917)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Numbers like (22-2) in the text give the Hebrew verse numbering where it differs.
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Isaiah 47:1–15; Jeremiah 50:1–51:64; Isaiah 1:1; Daniel 5:28; Revelation 17:1–18
- 2 Jeremiah 51:58; Isaiah 5:26; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:25; Isaiah 45:1–3
- 3 Joel 3:11; Jeremiah 51:20–24; Revelation 17:12–18; Revelation 18:20–19:7; Ezra 7:12–26
- 4 Joel 3:14; Joel 2:25; Ezekiel 38:3–23; Revelation 19:11–21; Joel 2:1–11
- 5 Matthew 24:31; Jeremiah 50:9; Jeremiah 51:20–46; Jeremiah 50:3; Isaiah 5:26
- 6 Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18; Ezekiel 30:2–3; Zephaniah 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3
- 7 Ezekiel 21:7; Nahum 2:10; Nahum 1:6; Ezekiel 7:17; Isaiah 19:1
- 8 Nahum 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Isaiah 26:17; Isaiah 21:3–4; John 16:21
- 9 Malachi 4:1; Nahum 1:6; Isaiah 13:15–18; Isaiah 13:6; Jeremiah 51:35–58
- 10 Joel 2:31; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Ezekiel 32:7–8; Joel 3:15
- 11 Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 5:15; Jeremiah 50:29–32; Daniel 5:22–23; Isaiah 3:11
- 12 Isaiah 4:1; Isaiah 24:6; Psalm 137:9; Job 28:16; Isaiah 13:15–18
- 13 Hebrews 12:26–27; Joel 3:16; Matthew 24:29; Nahum 1:4–6; Haggai 2:6–7
- 14 Jeremiah 50:16; 1 Kings 22:17; 1 Kings 22:36; Jeremiah 51:9; Isaiah 17:13
- 15 Jeremiah 50:25; Jeremiah 51:3–4; Jeremiah 50:27; Isaiah 47:9–14; Jeremiah 50:35–42
- 16 Hosea 10:14; Nahum 3:10; Psalm 137:8–9; Isaiah 13:18; Zechariah 14:2
- 17 Daniel 5:28–31; Jeremiah 51:11; Jeremiah 50:9; Isaiah 41:25; Jeremiah 51:27–28
- 18 2 Kings 8:12; 2 Chronicles 36:17; Isaiah 13:16; Hosea 13:16; Ezekiel 9:10
- 19 Daniel 4:30; Jeremiah 50:40; Zephaniah 2:9; Amos 4:11; Deuteronomy 29:23
- 20 Jeremiah 51:43; Isaiah 14:23; Jeremiah 50:45; 2 Chronicles 17:11; Jeremiah 50:3
- 21 Revelation 18:2; Isaiah 34:11–15
- 22 Isaiah 35:7; Isaiah 25:2; Jeremiah 51:33; Deuteronomy 32:35; Habakkuk 2:3
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… shall be no men in them and the land shall be left desolate." "For, behold," says Isaiah, "the day of the Lord cometh past remedy, full of fury and wrath, to lay waste the city of the earth, and to root sinners out of it." And again he says, "Let him be taken away, that he behold not the glory …
Concerning that day, hear the prophets, saying, "The day of the Lord is incurable, full of anger and wrath." For there will be none to stand by, none to rescue, nowhere the face of Christ, so mild and calm.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)