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

2 Raise ye [up] a sign on a misty hill, and enhance ye [the] voice; raise ye the hand, and [the] dukes enter by the gates. (Raise ye up a sign on a misty hill, and lift ye up the voice; raise ye up the hand, and let the leaders enter in by the gates.)

3 I have commanded to mine hallowed men, and I (have) called my strong men in my wrath, that make full out joy in my glory.

4 The voice of [the] multitude in hills, as of many peoples; the voice of [the] sound of kings, of heathen men gathered together. The Lord of hosts commanded to the chivalry of [the] battle, (The sound of a multitude in the hills, yea, that of many people; the sound of kings, and of the heathen gathered together. The Lord of hosts commanded to the cavalry, or to the army, preparing for battle,)

5 to men coming from a far land. The Lord cometh from the highness of heaven, and (with him) the vessels of his strong vengeance, that he destroy all the land.

6 Yell ye, for the day of the Lord is nigh; as wasting, either destroying, it shall come of the Lord. (Yell ye, for the day of the Lord is near, or is soon; it shall come as wasting, or as destruction, from the Lord.)

7 For this thing all hands shall be unmighty, and each heart of man shall fail, and shall be all-broken.

8 Gnawings and sorrows shall hold Babylonians; they shall have sorrow, as they that travail of child. Each man shall wonder at his neighbour; their cheers shall be burnt faces. (Gnawings and sorrows shall hold the Babylonians; they shall have sorrow, like she who laboureth with child. Each man shall wonder at his neighbour; their faces shall burn with shame.)

9 Lo! the day of the Lord shall come, cruel, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and of strong vengeance; to set the land into wilderness, and to all-break the sinners thereof from that land.

10 For why the stars of heaven and the shining of them shall not spread abroad their light; the sun is made dark in his rising, and the moon shall not shine in her light. (And the stars of the heavens and their shining shall not spread abroad their light; the sun shall be made dark at its rising, and the moon shall not shine with its light.)

11 And I shall visit on the evils of the world, and I shall visit against wicked men the wickedness of them; and I shall make the pride of unfaithful men for to rest, and I shall make low the boast of strong men. (And I shall punish the world for its evil or And I shall bring disaster upon the world, and I shall punish the wicked for their wickedness; and I shall make the pride of the unfaithful to cease, and I shall make low the boast of the strong.)

12 A man of full age shall be preciouser than gold, and a man shall be preciouser than pure gold and shining. (A person of great age, or maturity, shall be more precious, or more rare, than gold, yea, such a person shall be more precious than the pure gold of Ophir.)

13 On this thing I shall trouble (the) heaven(s), and the earth shall be moved from his place (or and the earth shall be moved from its place); for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of wrath of his strong vengeance.

14 And it shall be as a doe fleeing, and as a sheep, and none shall be that shall gather together; each man shall turn to his people, and all by themselves shall flee to their land. (And they shall be like a fleeing doe, or like sheep, and there shall be no one who shall gather them up; each man shall return to his own people, yea, everyone shall flee to their own land.)

15 Each man that is found, shall be slain; and each man that cometh above, shall fall down by sword. (Each person who is found, shall be killed; and each person who is taken captive, shall fall down by the sword.)

16 The young children of them shall be hurtled down before the eyes of them; their houses shall be ravished, and their wives shall be defouled. (Their young children shall be hurtled down before their eyes; their houses shall be robbed, and their wives shall be defiled.)

17 Lo! I shall raise on them Medes, that seek not silver, neither will gold; (Behold! I shall raise up the Medes against them, who seek not silver, nor desire gold;)

18 but they shall slay little children with arrows, and they shall not have mercy on wombs giving milk, and the eye of them shall not spare on sons. (but they shall kill little children with arrows, and they shall not have mercy upon wombs, or upon mothers, giving milk, and they shall not spare even one of the sons or daughters.)

19 And Babylon, that glorious city in realms, noble in the pride of Chaldees, shall be destroyed, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. (And Babylon, that most glorious city of all kingdoms, noble in the pride of the Chaldeans, shall be destroyed, like God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

20 It shall not be inhabited till into the end (or It shall never be inhabited again), and it shall not be founded till to generation and generation; a man of Arabia shall not set tents there, and shepherds shall not rest there.

21 But wild beasts shall rest there, and the houses of them shall be filled with dragons; and ostriches shall dwell there (or and owls shall nest there), and hairy beasts shall skip there.

22 And bitterns shall answer there in the houses thereof, and flying serpents in the temples of lust. It is nigh that the time thereof come, and the days thereof shall not be made far; (And bitterns shall cry there in its houses, and flying serpents in its beautiful palaces. It is near, or very soon, when that time shall come, and its days shall not be prolonged;)