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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 13

Isaiah 13: the burden of Babylon and the day of the Lord

General context

The chapter is headed as the burden of Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. A banner is raised on a high mountain and a hand shaken so an army may enter the gates of the nobles. The Lord says he has commanded his sanctified ones and called his mighty ones for his anger. A tumult of gathered kingdoms sounds in the mountains as the Lord of hosts musters the host of battle, coming from a far country and the end of heaven with the weapons of his indignation to destroy the whole land. Hearers are told to howl because the day of the Lord is at hand; hands go faint, hearts melt, and pain takes hold like a woman in labour. That day comes cruel with wrath to lay the land desolate; stars, sun and moon give no light, the Lord punishes the world for its evil and humbles the proud, making a man scarcer than the gold of Ophir, and shakes heaven and earth. Every man flees to his own land like a chased roe; whoever is found is thrust through, children are dashed to pieces before their eyes, houses spoiled and wives ravished. The Lord stirs up the Medes, who care nothing for silver or gold and spare neither young men nor children. Babylon, the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, becomes as Sodom and Gomorrah, never again inhabited; no Arabian pitches a tent there, no shepherd folds sheep, and wild beasts, owls, satyrs and dragons fill her houses and palaces. Her time is near and her days will not be prolonged.

Cited passages: Isaiah 13:1, Isaiah 13:2, Isaiah 13:3, Isaiah 13:4, Isaiah 13:5, Isaiah 13:6, Isaiah 13:7, Isaiah 13:8, Isaiah 13:9, Isaiah 13:10, Isaiah 13:11, Isaiah 13:12, Isaiah 13:13, Isaiah 13:14, Isaiah 13:15, Isaiah 13:16, Isaiah 13:17, Isaiah 13:18, Isaiah 13:19, Isaiah 13:20, Isaiah 13:21, Isaiah 13:22

Isaiah 13 (KJV)

1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

2Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

3I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.

4The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.

5They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

6Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

7Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

8And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

9Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

10For 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.

11And 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.

12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

14And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

15Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.

16Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

18Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20It 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.

21But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

22And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

This is the first of the burdens, and its heading gives the addressee and the seer: the burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. No king of Judah, year or occasion is given, and Babylon has not been mentioned in the book before this point. The attackers are called the Lord's sanctified ones and mighty ones, kingdoms gathered from a far country, and only in the seventeenth verse are they named as the Medes; the text says nothing else about who the Medes are. Babylon is linked to the Chaldees by the title the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency. The Lord speaks in the first person, I have commanded, I will punish, I will stir up, and the surrounding description is in the narrating voice. The chapter mixes the whole land, the world and the earth with Babylon by name, and does not draw the line between them; it is not stated whether the darkened sun and shaken earth describe Babylon's fall or something wider. The violence is stated without softening: children dashed to pieces, wives ravished, no pity on the fruit of the womb. The desolation of Babylon is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, an event the text names without retelling. Ophir is named only as a source of gold.

Cited passages: Isaiah 13:1, Isaiah 13:3, Isaiah 13:5, Isaiah 13:17, Isaiah 13:19, Isaiah 13:11, Isaiah 13:9, Isaiah 13:13, Isaiah 13:16, Isaiah 13:12

Literary context

The oracle delays its subject. Babylon is named in the heading and then not again until the nineteenth verse; the body speaks of a banner, a mustered host, the day of the Lord, and the world, so the reader hears a cosmic judgment before it lands on one city. Sound precedes sight: a voice exalted, a tumultuous noise, howling, and then faint hands and melting hearts. The day of the Lord is announced twice, at hand and then cometh, and its description moves outward from human bodies to the stars and the moved earth, then back down to a single man scarcer than gold. The middle verses are a flight and a slaughter told in short plain clauses. The Medes are introduced by what they will not do, regard silver, delight in gold, pity children. The ending inverts the opening: the mountain where the banner was lifted becomes a city where no tent is pitched, and the noise of nations becomes the cries of owls and dragons in empty palaces. The glory of kingdoms is set beside Sodom and Gomorrah, the same comparison the people of Judah apply to themselves in chapter one. Chapter fourteen continues without a new heading by turning from Babylon's fall to Jacob's rest.

Cited passages: Isaiah 13:1, Isaiah 13:19, Isaiah 13:4, Isaiah 13:7, Isaiah 13:6, Isaiah 13:9, Isaiah 13:12, Isaiah 13:15, Isaiah 13:17, Isaiah 13:2, Isaiah 13:20, Isaiah 13:22, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 14:1

Key moments

  1. The burden of Babylon (Isaiah 13:1). A new heading names Babylon as the subject Isaiah saw.
  2. The host mustered (Isaiah 13:4). The Lord of hosts gathers kingdoms for battle in the mountains.
  3. The day of the Lord at hand (Isaiah 13:6). Hearers are told to howl at a destruction from the Almighty.
  4. Sun and stars darkened (Isaiah 13:10). Stars, sun and moon withhold their light in that day.
  5. The Medes stirred up (Isaiah 13:17). The Lord raises an enemy that cares nothing for silver or gold.
  6. Babylon as Sodom (Isaiah 13:19). The glory of kingdoms will be overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah.
  7. Owls in the palaces (Isaiah 13:21). Wild beasts and owls take over the houses where no one will live again.

For reflection

The Lord calls the attacking army my sanctified ones and then describes them sparing no child. How does the chapter hold together the army's title and its conduct?

People in this chapter

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