The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 This is a prophecy about Bavel, which Yesha'yahu the son of Amotz saw:
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The word of the Lord about Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
2 Hoist a banner on a high mountain, shout to [the invaders]; beckon them to enter the Nobles' Gate.
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Put up a flag on a clear mountain-top, make a loud outcry to them, give directions with the hand, so that they may go into the doors of the great ones.
3 "I have ordered my holy ones, summoned my heroes, eager and bold, to execute my anger."
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I have given orders to my holy ones, I have sent out my men of war, those of mine who take pride in their power, to give effect to my wrath.
4 Listen! A tumult on the mountains - it sounds like a vast multitude! Listen! The uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathering together! ADONAI-Tzva'ot is mustering an army for war.
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The noise of great numbers in the mountains, like the noise of a strong people! The noise of the kingdoms of the nations meeting together! The Lord of armies is numbering his forces for war.
5 They come from a distant land, from beyond the horizon. It's ADONAI, with the weapons of his rage, to lay waste to all the earth.
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They come from a far country, from the farthest part of heaven, even the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, with destruction for all the land.
6 Howl! for the Day of ADONAI is at hand, destruction coming from Shaddai.
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Send out a cry of grief; for the day of the Lord is near; it comes as destruction from the Most High.
7 This is why every arm will hang limp and everyone's courage melt away.
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For this cause all hands will be feeble, and every heart of man be turned to water;
8 They will be gripped by panic, seized with pain and agony, writhing like a woman in labor, looking aghast at each other, faces aflame.
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Their hearts will be full of fear; pains and sorrows will overcome them; they will be in pain like a woman in childbirth; they will be shocked at one another; their faces will be like flames.
9 Here comes the Day of ADONAI, full of cruelty, rage and hot fury, to desolate the earth and destroy the sinners in it.
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See, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with wrath and burning passion: to make the land a waste, driving the sinners in it to destruction.
10 For the stars, the constellations in the sky, will no longer give their light; the sun will be dark when it rises; and the moon will no longer shine.
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For the stars of heaven and its bright armies will not give their light: the sun will be made dark in his journey through the heaven, and the moon will keep back her light.
11 "I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the arrogance of the proud and humble the insolence of tyrants.
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And I will send punishment on the world for its evil, and on the sinners for their wrongdoing; and I will put an end to all pride, and will make low the power of the cruel.
12 I will make humans rarer than gold, scarcer than Ofir's pure gold.
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I will make men so small in number, that a man will be harder to get than gold, even the best gold of Ophir.
13 This is why I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of ADONAI-Tzva'ot on the day of his fierce anger.
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For this cause the heavens will be shaking, and the earth will be moved out of its place, in the wrath of the Lord of armies, and in the day of his burning passion.
14 Then, like a hunted gazelle, like sheep with no one to gather them, everyone will head back to his own people; everyone will flee to his own land.
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And it will be that, like a roe in flight, and like wandering sheep, they will go every man to his people and to his land.
15 Anyone found will be pierced through; anyone caught will fall by the sword,
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Everyone who is overtaken will have a spear put through him, and everyone who goes in flight will be put to the sword.
16 their babies dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses looted, their wives raped.
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Their young children will be broken up before their eyes; their goods will be taken away, and their wives made the property of others.
17 I will stir up against them the Medes, who cannot be tempted by silver or bought off with gold.
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See, I am driving the Medes against them, who put no value on silver and have no pleasure in gold.
18 Their bows will tear young men to pieces, they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb, their eye will not spare children."
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In their hands are bows and spears; they are cruel, violently putting the young men to death, and crushing the young women; they have no pity for children, and no mercy for the fruit of the body.
19 Thus Bavel, that jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Kasdim, will be like S'dom and 'Amora when overthrown by God.
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And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beautiful town which is the pride of the Chaldaeans, will be like God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never again be inhabited, never lived in through all generations. Arabs will not pitch tents there nor shepherds bring their flocks.
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People will never be living in it again, and it will have no more men from generation to generation: the Arab will not put up his tent there; and those who keep sheep will not make it a resting-place for their flocks.
21 But wildcats will lie there, their houses will be full of owls, ostriches will live there, and wild goats will dance there.
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But the beasts of the waste land will have their holes there; and the houses will be full of crying jackals, and ostriches will have their place there, and evil spirits will be dancing there.
22 Jackals will howl in their palaces and wild dogs in their temples of delight. Its time is close at hand, its days will not last long.
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And wolves will be answering one another in their towers, and jackals in their houses of pleasure: her time is near, and her days of power will quickly be ended.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.