Isaiah 13:9-22

New Century Version

¹¹ The Lord says, “I will punish the world for its evil
    and wicked people for their sins.
I will cause proud people to lose their pride,
    and I will destroy the pride of those who are cruel to others.
¹² People will be harder to find than pure gold;
    there will be fewer people than there is fine gold in Ophir.
¹³ I will make the sky shake,
    and the earth will be moved from its place
by the anger of the Lord All-Powerful
    at the time of his burning anger.

¹⁴ “Then the people from Babylon will run away like hunted deer
    or like sheep who have no shepherd.
Everyone will turn back to his own people;
    each will run back to his own land.
¹⁵ Everyone who is captured will be killed;
    everyone who is caught will be killed with a sword.
¹⁶ Their little children will be beaten to death in front of them.
    Their houses will be robbed
    and their wives raped.

¹⁷ “Look, I will cause the armies of Media to attack Babylon.
    They do not care about silver
    or delight in gold.
¹⁸ Their soldiers will shoot the young men with arrows;
    they will show no mercy on children,
    nor will they feel sorry for little ones.
¹⁹ Babylon is the most beautiful of all kingdoms,
    and the Babylonians are very proud of it.
But God will destroy it
    like Sodom and Gomorrah.
²⁰ No one will ever live there
    or settle there again.
No Arab will put a tent there;
    no shepherd will bring sheep there.
²¹ Only desert animals will live there,
    and their houses will be full of wild dogs.
Owls will live there,
    and wild goats will leap about in the houses.
²² Wolves will howl within the strong walls,
    and wild dogs will bark in the beautiful buildings.
The end of Babylon is near;
    its time is almost over.”