Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 An oracle about Babylon, which Isaiah, Amoz's son, saw.
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The oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw.
2 On a bare mountain raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave a hand; let them enter the officials' gates.
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On a bare hill raise a signal, cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my holy ones; I have called my warriors, my proud, jubilant ones, to execute my wrath.
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I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones, to execute my anger.
4 Listen! A roar on the mountains like that of a great crowd. Listen! An uproar of kingdoms, of nations coming together. The LORD of heavenly forces is mustering an army for battle.
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Listen, a tumult on the mountains as of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The Lord of hosts is mustering an army for battle.
5 They are coming from a distant land, from the faraway heavens, the LORD and the instruments of his fury, to destroy the whole land.
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They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole earth.
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near. Like destruction from the Almighty it will come.
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Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty!
7 Then all hands will fall limp; every human heart will melt,
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Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt,
8 and they will be terrified. Like a woman writhing in labor, they will be seized by spasms and agony. They will look at each other aghast, their faces blazing.
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and they will be dismayed. Pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
9 Look, the day of the LORD is coming with cruel rage and burning anger, making the earth a ruin, and wiping out its sinners.
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See, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners from it.
10 Heaven's stars and constellations won't show their light. The sun will be dark when it rises; the moon will no longer shine.
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For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.
11 I will bring disaster upon the world for its evil, and bring their own sin upon the wicked. I will end the pride of the insolent, and the conceit of tyrants I will lay low.
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I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and lay low the insolence of tyrants.
12 I will make humans scarcer than fine gold; people rarer than the gold of Ophir.
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I will make mortals more rare than fine gold, and humans than the gold of Ophir.
13 I will rattle the heavens; the earth will shake loose from its place—because of the rage of the LORD of heavenly forces on the day his anger burns.
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Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.
14 They will be like hunted gazelles, like sheep without a shepherd; all will turn to their own people and flee to their own lands.
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Like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with no one to gather them, all will turn to their own people, and all will flee to their own lands.
15 Whoever is found will be stabbed; whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
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Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be crushed before their eyes; their houses plundered, their women raped.
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Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives ravished.
17 Look! I'm rousing the Medes against them; the Medes pay no mind to silver, no desire for gold.
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See, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold.
18 Their bows will smash youths; they will be merciless to newborns, pitiless to children.
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Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.
19 So Babylon, a jewel among kingdoms, the Chaldeans' splendor and pride, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by God.
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And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
20 No one will ever resettle or live there for generations. No Arab will camp there; no shepherds will rest flocks there.
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It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; Arabs will not pitch their tents there, shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there.
21 Wildcats will rest there; houses will be filled with owls. Ostriches will live there, and goat demons will dance there.
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But wild animals will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will live, and there goat-demons will dance.
22 Hyenas will howl in its strongholds, and jackals in its luxurious palaces. Babylon's time is coming soon; its days won't drag on.
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Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand, and its days will not be prolonged.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.