THE burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2 Lift 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.
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
4 The 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.
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 land.
6 Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
8 And 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.
9 Behold, 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.
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 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.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore 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.
14 And 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.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their 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.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, 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 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.
22 And 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.

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

2Lift yee vp a banner vpon the high mountaine, exalt the voice vnto them, shake the hand, that they may goe into the gates of the nobles.

3I haue commanded my sanctified ones: I haue also called my mightie ones for mine anger, euen them that reioyce in my highnesse.

4The noise of a multitude in the mountaines, like as of a great people: a tumultuous noise of the kingdomes of nations gathered together: the Lord of hostes mustereth the hoste of the battell.

5They come from a farre countrey from the end of heauen, euen the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

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

7Therefore shall all hands bee faint, and euery mans heart shall melt.

8And they shalbe afraid: pangs and sorrowes shall take hold of them, they shalbe in paine as a woman that trauelleth: they shalbe amazed one at another, their faces shalbe as flames.

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

10For the starres of heauen, and the constellations thereof shall not giue their light: the sunne shalbe darkened in his going forth, and the moone shall not cause her light to shine.

11And I will punish the world for their euill, and the wicked for their iniquitie; and I will cause the arrogancie of the proud to cease, and will lay low the hautinesse of the terrible.

12I will make a man more pretious then fine gold; euen a man then the golden wedge of Ophir.

13Therefore I will shake the heauens, and the earth shall remoue out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hostes, and in the day of his fierce anger.

14And it shalbe as the chased Roe, and as a sheepe that no man taketh vp: they shall euery man turne to his owne people, and flee euery one into his owne land.

15Euery one that is found shall be thrust through: and euery one that is ioyned vnto them, shall fall by the sword.

16Their children also shalbe dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses shalbe spoiled, & their wiues rauished.

17Beholde, I will stirre vp the Medes against them, which shall not regard siluer, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

18Their bowes also shall dash the yong men to pieces, and they shall haue no pitie on the fruit of the wombe; their eye shall not spare children.

19 And Babylon the glory of kingdomes, the beautie of the Chaldees excellencie, shall be as when God ouerthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20It shall neuer be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shal the shepheards make their fold there.

21But wilde beastes of the desert shall lye there, and their houses shalbe full of dolefull creatures, and owles shall dwell there, and Satyres shall daunce there.

22And the wilde beastes of the Ilands shal cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is neere to come, and her dayes shall not be prolonged.

I == Jer 50:51

II == Isa 5:26 ; 10:32 ; 18:3 ; Jer 50:2 ; 51:25

III == Ps 149:2 , 5-6 ; Joel 3:11

VI == Job 31:23 ; Joel 1:15 ; Zeph 1:7 ; Rev 6:17

VIII == {s 48:6 ; Isa 21:3

IX == Ps 104:35 ; Prov 2:22 ; Mal 4:1

X == Isa 24:21 , 23 ; Ezek 32:7 ; Joel 2:31 ; 3:15 ; Matt 24:29 ; Mark 13:24 ; Luke 21:25

XIII == Ps 110:5 ; Lam 1:12 ; Hag 2:6

XIV == Jer 50:16 ; 51:9

XVI == Ps 137:9 ; Nah 3:10 ; Zech 14:2

XVII == Isa 21:2 ; Jer 51:11 , 28 ; Dan 5:28 , 31

XIX == Gen 19:24-25 ; Deut 29:23 ; Isa 14:4 , 22 ; Jer 49:18 ; 50:40

XX == Jer 50:3 , 39 ; 51:29 , 62

XXI == Isa 34:11-15 ; Rev 18:2

XXII == Jer 51:33

1 An oracle concerning Babylon; a vision of Isaiah, son of Amoz.

2 Upon the bare mountains set up a signal; cry out to them, Wave for them to enter the gates of the volunteers.

3 I have commanded my dedicated soldiers, I have summoned my warriors, eager and bold to carry out my anger.

4 Listen! the rumble on the mountains: that of an immense throng! Listen! the noise of kingdoms, nations assembled! The LORD of hosts is mustering an army for battle.

5 They come from a far-off country, and from the end of the heavens, The LORD and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy all the land.

6 Howl, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

7 Therefore all hands fall helpless, the bows of the young men fall from their hands. Every man's heart melts

8 in terror. Pangs and sorrows take hold of them, like a woman in labor they writhe; They look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.

9 Lo, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and burning anger; To lay waste the land and destroy the sinners within it!

10 The stars and constellations of the heavens send forth no light; The sun is dark when it rises, and the light of the moon does not shine.

11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their guilt. I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, the insolence of tyrants I will humble.

12 I will make mortals more rare than pure gold, men, than gold of Ophir.

13 For this I will make the heavens tremble and the earth shall be shaken from its place, At the wrath of the LORD of hosts on the day of his burning anger.

14 Like a hunted gazelle, or a flock that no one gathers, Every man shall turn to his kindred and flee to his own land.

15 Everyone who is caught shall be run through; to a man, they shall fall by the sword.

16 Their infants shall be dashed to pieces in their sight; their houses shall be plundered and their wives ravished.

17 I am stirring up against them the Medes, who think nothing of silver and take no delight in gold.

18 The fruit of the womb they shall not spare, nor shall they have eyes of pity for children.

19 And Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory and pride of the Chaldeans, Shall be overthrown by God like Sodom and like Gomorrah.

20 She shall never be inhabited, nor dwelt in, from age to age; The Arab shall not pitch his tent there, nor shepherds couch their flocks.

21 But wildcats shall rest there and owls shall fill the houses; There ostriches shall dwell, and satyrs shall dance.

22 Desert beasts shall howl in her castles, and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is near at hand and her days shall not be prolonged.

v 1-5. In chapters 13 - 27 Isaiah will be proclaiming the Lord’s judgment upon 9 Gentile nations. God’s sanctified ones, v 3, may be the Persians under Cyrus who would destroy Babylon in 539. (They did not destroy it, but it wasted away in following years.) However, it probably refers to a greater destruction by the Assyrians in 689. It also speaks of a future mustering of armies, Rev. 16:12-16.

v 6-13. Isaiah speaks of coming judgment on Babylon, but the greater emphasis is on the judgment that will come on the whole earth before the Millennial Kingdom. The  sun, moon and stars not giving light may have been figurative in the near term, but for the future, it is a part of the final judgment on the world, Matt. 24:29. The pain is real in both, compare v 8, pains of childbirth, with gnawing tongues for pain, Rev. 16:10. Many will die, v 12, so the population will be decimated.

v 14-18. The unmerciful and unrelenting viciousness of the Assyrians (rather than Medes) plundering, murdering, raping and killing  babies and children of Babylon.

v 19-22. Initial reading would seem that the Medes were stirred up to destroy Babylon. We know that is not the case, because there was little change in the city, and some people did not realize until three days later that it was captured. Babylon and other countries had on and off relationship with Assyria several years. Medes were stirred up against the Assyrians, who came back under Sennacherib to teach a lesson in the area and did the vicious acts of v 14-18 in 689 B.C., 150 years before Babylon was taken over by the Medes in 539. He was not as cruel as some Assyrians, but Scythians later invaded and did even worse deeds upon Assyria. They skinned men's arms to use for arrow pouches, and used the top of their skulls for drinking cups.
This brings up the further thought that the total destruction, like Sodom and Gomorrah, no one live or graze there, and only wild beasts be there, was not an aftermath of either invasion. Consider with this Jer. 51:26, And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord. Those things have not taken place yet. A few people have lived there and shepherds have grazed there. Thousands of the bricks (they didn’t have much actual stone) with inscription on them have been used in building various towns. This has been quite barren in the past, but is in the country of present day Iraq, and Saddam Hussein is taking some steps toward rebuilding it. We must conclude that this destruction is yet future, and the destruction will come at the end of the Tribulation. This political Babylon will not be at Rome, as some surmise, but will be rebuilt Babylon which is destroyed as recorded in Rev. 18. Then it will be permanently, totally waste.