The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even {Or, them that exult in my majesty}my proudly exulting ones.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle.
They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as destruction from {Hebrew: Shaddai. See Genesis 17:1.}the Almighty shall it come.
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt:
and they shall be dismayed; {Or, they shall take hold of pangs and sorrows}pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame.
Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
And it shall come to pass, that as the chased {Or, gazelle}roe, 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.
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is {Or, joined thereunto}taken shall fall by the sword.
Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
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.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.
And {Hebrew: howling creatures.}wolves shall {Or, answer}cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Querverweise zu Jesaja 13,4 Jes 13,4
The {Or, oracle}burden of the valley of vision.What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
O thou that art full of shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; thy slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
All thy rulers fled away together, they were bound {Or, without the bow}by the archers; all that were found of thee were bound together; {Or, that had fled from far}they fled afar off.
Therefore said I, Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; {Or, hasten}labor not to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
For it is a day of discomfiture, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the {Or, mountain}mountains.
And Elam bare the quiver, with {Or, troops}chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.
And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
And he took away the covering of Judah; and thou didst look in that day to the armor in the house of the forest.
And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool;
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as {Or, war-horses}horsemen, so do they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces are waxed pale.
They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks.
Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path; and {Or, when they fall around the weapons, they &c.}they burst through the weapons, and {Or, are not wounded}break not off their course.
They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
{Or, Woe to Asshur}Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation!
Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is {Or, broken down}dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are {Or, broken down}dismayed.
And the {Greek: likenesses.}shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men's faces.
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war.
And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months.
They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name {That is, Destroyer.}Apollyon.
The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter.
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard {Greek: one voice.}a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,
one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.
And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.
And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them.
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone.
By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths.
For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt.
I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and {Hebrew: to make them a treading down.}to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and beast.
Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
Go up against the land of {That is, Double rebellion.}Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of {That is, Visitation.}Pekod: slay and {Hebrew: devote.}utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah.
Jehovah hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
Come against her {Or, from every quarter}from the utmost border; open her {Or, granaries}store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and {Hebrew: devote.}destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Call together {Or, many}the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Jehovah.
Behold, I am against thee, {Hebrew: O Pride.}O thou proud one, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
And {Hebrew: Pride.}the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
A sword is upon the {Hebrew: boatings.}boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over {Hebrew: terrors.}idols.
Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the {Hebrew: howling creatures.}wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
Behold, a people cometh from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon hath heard the tidings of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that can stand before me?
Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembleth, and the cry is heard among the nations.
I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;
Make {Or, bright}sharp the arrows; {Hebrew: fill.}hold firm the {Or, suits of armor}shields: Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple.
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against Jehovah.
Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, {Hebrew: sanctify.}prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm.
Shout against her round about: she hath {Hebrew: given her hand.}submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
{Hebrew: sanctify.}Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of their dominion.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; be not cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Jehovah's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.
Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.
Make {Or, bright}sharp the arrows; {Hebrew: fill.}hold firm the {Or, suits of armor}shields: Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple.
Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy {Or, dishonest gain}covetousness.
Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, {Or, Though I have filled}Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the canker-worm; {Or, yet}and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens.
When he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.
Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.
Thou art my {Or, maul}battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;
and with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces {Or, lieutenants}governors and deputies.
And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith Jehovah.
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, {Or, chief prince of Meshech}prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
and I will turn thee about, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with thee.
Be thou prepared, yea, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy companies that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a {Or, commander}guard unto them.
After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is {Or, restored}brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.
And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy hordes, and many peoples with thee.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt devise an evil device:
and thou shalt say, I will go up to {Or, an open country}the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;
to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations, that have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the {Hebrew: navel. See Judges 9:37.}middle of the earth.
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thy company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?
Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth securely, shalt thou not know it?
And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost parts of the north, thou, and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army;
and thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, that prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against them?
And it shall come to pass in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.
For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
so that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
And I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and none hath escaped them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as {Or, war-horses}horsemen, so do they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces are waxed pale.
They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks.
Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path; and {Or, when they fall around the weapons, they &c.}they burst through the weapons, and {Or, are not wounded}break not off their course.
They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision.
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.
Behold, a day of Jehovah cometh, when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then shall Jehovah go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is {Some ancient authorities omit the Lord.}the Lord God who judged her.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great {Or, discomfiture}tumult from Jehovah shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon {Some ancient authorities omit called.}called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself.
And he is arrayed in a garment {Some ancient authorities read dipped in.}sprinkled with blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure.
And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the {Greek: winepress of the wine of the fierceness.}winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
And I saw {Greek: one.}an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God;
that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of {Or, military tribunes Greek: chiliarchs.}captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that {See marginal note on chapter 3:9}worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone:
and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.