Isaiah 13 1. The conquest of Babylon that Isaiah foresaw. 2. Upon the vast mountain raise a flag, call to them in a loud voice, wave to them a hand, as they enter through the gates of authority.* 3. I have invited* my saints,* and called on the giants of my wrath and those most loyal* to me. 4. The sound of an uprising in the mountain, like that of many nations, the sound of the rising of the nations' kingdoms that have gathered -- the Almighty Maryah has mustered the powers. 5. The sword men come from afar, and from the edges* of heaven: Maryah, together with the vessels of his wrath, to destroy the whole earth. 6. Bewail [your fate,] for the Day of Maryah is near, like the plunder that comes out of stillness. 7. That is why all hands shall lose their grip, and all hearts shall sink and lay awash in fear; 8. And the throes of pain* seize them, like a woman in travail,* and a man wonders about his friend, their faces cleaving like the flames of fire. 9. Behold, the Day of Maryah shall arrive, a Day that has no cure, and with a blazing anger; they shall rend the earth to oblivion, together with its sins.* 10. Because the stars of heaven and their powers do not shine, the sun remains dark as it comes out, and the light of the moon does not shine. 11. Evil shall rule over the universe and upon the depraved their abomination; the haughtiness of the arrogant shall be nullified, and the bravado of the heroes shall be humbled. 12. And a man regards his worth in gold and a human being in the gold that turns to dust. 13. That is why he shook the heavens, and the earth was shaken from its place, by the outcry of the Almighty Maryah, on the Day of his wrath's rising.* 14. And they shall be like the gazelle in flight and like the sheep that has no shepherd,* a human being returns to his nation and a man runs to his land. 15. Whoever seeks [plunder] is affected, and whoever grows rich shall fall by the sword. 16. And their children shall seize their flocks and plunder their houses, and their women shall be violated. 17. Behold, I will expose you to the Medes, who have no regard for money and no passion for gold. 18. They will break the bows of youth, and upon the fruit of the belly they have no mercy, and upon your children their eyes do not linger. 19. And Babylon shall become the power seat of kingdoms, and the glory of the Chaldean hegemony, whence Allaha revisited Sodom and Gomorrah. 20. For it will neither stand forever,* nor will they find there rest for centuries; neither will the Arabs settle there, nor will they find pasture. 21. Except it shall become the breeding ground for wild creatures, and they shall fill their houses with noise, and there will rest there the owls, and there the demons shall dance. 22. And there shall reply to their sirens, screaming out, and the jackals shall dwell in their summer palaces; for blessed is the season that follows, and its Days shall not come to an end. *13:1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Gates of authorities." *13:3.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Commanded." *13:3.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Blessed." *13.3.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Deeply committed." *13:5 Lit. Ar. id.: "Lips." *13:8.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Pangs and throes." *13:8.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Like a birther." *13:9 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "Subjugate the earth to destruction and its sins disappear from it." *13:13 Lit. Ar. id.: "Heating." *13:14 Lit. Ar. id.: Gatherer." *13:20 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "It will not sit to [the end of] the universe."