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Isaiah 13

Isaiah announces God’s judgment against Babylon, exposing the collapse of imperial pride through war and lasting desolation.

An army gathers against Babylon in a vision attributed to Isaiah son of Amoz. The prophet announces YHWH’s approaching day, while God declares judgment against evil and pride. The vision moves from the terror of battle to darkened heavens and a shaken earth. God names the Medes as attackers who cannot be bought off. The closing scene shows Babylon’s palaces abandoned to wild animals, with the city’s splendor replaced by desolation.

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1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
4The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! The LORD of Armies is mustering the army for the battle.
5They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6Wail, for the LORD’s day is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt.
8They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame.
9Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.
10For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the arrogance of the terrible.
12I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir.
13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the LORD of Armies’ wrath, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14It will happen that like a hunted gazelle and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land.
15Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.
17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.
18Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.
19Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
21But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.
22Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 13:10The darkened heavens place Babylon’s fall within a vision of judgment that shakes the whole created order.
Isaiah 13:19The comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah declares that Babylon’s splendor offers no protection against God’s overthrow.
Isaiah 13:6The command to wail introduces YHWH’s day as approaching destruction, setting the tone for the horrors that follow.
Where this chapter reaches

Jeremiah and Revelation share Isaiah’s imagery of Babylon brought down from splendor into desolation, with ruined dwellings becoming places for wild creatures. Joel and Matthew share the imagery of darkened sun and moon, linking upheaval in the heavens with divine judgment.

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After reading the whole chapter

What does the contrast between Babylon’s splendor and its abandoned palaces reveal about the limits of power?

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Which part of this judgment troubles you most, and what would you want to bring before God?

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Questions people ask about Isaiah 13

What is the day of YHWH in Isaiah 13?

The day of YHWH is God’s coming judgment, described here through invasion, terror, and cosmic upheaval. Babylon is the named target, yet the language also speaks of punishing the world for evil. The chapter presents Babylon’s downfall within a wider declaration of God’s authority over human pride.

Who are the Medes in Isaiah 13?

The Medes were a people from the region east of Mesopotamia. Verse 17 names them as the force God will bring against Babylon. The emphasis falls on their refusal to value silver or gold and their lack of mercy: Babylon’s wealth will offer no protection from their attack.

Why does Isaiah 13 describe violence against women and children?

The chapter portrays conquest in its horror, including rape and the killing of children. These acts belong to the announced devastation of Babylon under God’s judgment. The passage does not command readers to commit them. It leaves the suffering stark, without explaining the fate of each victim.

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Isaiah · 66 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).