Background
With chapter 13 the book shifts to a new section: oracles against the nations (chapters 13–23). Isaiah turns from Judah to its neighbors and to the great powers, one after another, to show that every nation answers to Israel’s God.
It is striking that the first oracle is against Babylon. In Isaiah’s day, Assyria was the superpower and Babylon was a restless subject city. But Isaiah looks past his own century to the empire that would one day destroy Jerusalem (587 BC), and then fall itself to the Medes and Persians (539 BC). He even names the Medes (verse 17).
Babylon matters in Isaiah because it becomes a symbol. From the Tower of Babel onward (Gen. 11:1–9), Babylon stands for human pride organized into a civilization, the world that sets itself against God. John uses it that way in Revelation (Rev. 17–18), and so does the Lord in modern revelation: “Babylon the great, which shall fall” (D&C 1:16); “Go ye out from Babylon” (D&C 133:5; D&C 133:14). So Isaiah 13 is both history and prophecy of the last days.
Nephi quoted this chapter as 2 Ne. 23, and his version has some of the most significant differences from the King James text anywhere in the Book of Mormon Isaiah chapters.
The thread through the chapter
Isaiah 13 is built on a startling reversal: the Lord raises a banner, and the proudest city on earth is flattened.
The chapter opens with a military summons (verses 2–5). A banner goes up on a bare hill, a hand waves, and troops pour in from “the end of heaven.” The Lord is mustering an army. We might expect that army to be Israel’s. It isn’t. It is a coalition of nations the Lord has “sanctified,” consecrated as His instruments.
Then the scope explodes (verses 6–13). This isn’t just a siege. It is “the day of the LORD.” Hearts melt, faces burn, stars go dark, the heavens shake, and the earth moves out of its place. The Lord announces His target: “I will punish the world for their evil… and will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease” (verse 11). Babylon has become the whole proud world.
Finally the focus narrows again to the literal city (verses 17–22). The Medes, who can’t be bribed, will come. Babylon, “the glory of kingdoms,” will be like Sodom: uninhabited, a home for jackals and owls.
The lesson runs through all of Isaiah: the higher the pride, the harder the fall. The Book of Mormon version adds a line at the end that changes the tone of the whole chapter: “For I will destroy her speedily; yea, for I will be merciful unto my people, but the wicked shall perish” (2 Ne. 23:22). The fall of Babylon is judgment on the proud and mercy for the Lord’s people, who are finally set free.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
The Lord musters His army
This is the oracle about Babylon that Isaiah saw. Raise a banner on a bare hilltop! Shout to the soldiers and wave them on into the nobles’ gates. I have commanded My consecrated warriors and summoned My mighty ones to carry out My anger. Listen to the roar on the mountains, like a vast crowd: the uproar of kingdoms and nations gathering. The Lord of hosts is mustering an army for battle. They come from far away, from the ends of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of His wrath, to destroy the whole land.
1 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.
The day of the Lord
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come like destruction from the Almighty. Every hand will go limp and every heart will melt. People will be terrified, gripped with pain like a woman in labor, staring at each other with faces flushed. The day of the Lord is coming, cruel with fury and burning anger, to make the land desolate and destroy its sinners. The stars and constellations will not shine, the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light. I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sins. I will end the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of tyrants. I will make people scarcer than pure gold, rarer than gold from Ophir. I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move from its place. Like a hunted gazelle or sheep with no shepherd, everyone will run back to his own people and land. Whoever is caught will be killed, and the horrors of war will fall on their families.
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.
Babylon becomes a ruin
I am stirring up the Medes against them, who don’t care about silver and can’t be bought with gold. Their bows will cut down the young men, and they will show no mercy to children. Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited again. No nomad will pitch a tent there, and no shepherd will rest his flock there. Desert animals will live in it, its houses will be full of howling creatures, ostriches will nest there, and wild goats will leap about. Hyenas will howl in its fortresses and jackals in its luxurious palaces. Its time is almost here; its days will not be extended.
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.
Seeing Christ in Isaiah 13
Where is Christ in a chapter of judgment on Babylon? He is the Lord of hosts who musters the armies (verse 4), the one whose day this is. And He is the One Nephi’s text reveals in the final line: “I will be merciful unto my people” (2 Ne. 23:22).
The fall of Babylon in scripture is always tied to the triumph of the Lamb. In Revelation, after Babylon falls, the next scene is the marriage supper of the Lamb and the Lord riding forth as “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:6–16). Pride’s city falls so that His kingdom can come.
Liken it to yourself
- Babylon is a spiritual location as much as a geographic one (D&C 133:14). Where does “Babylon” have a foothold in my life: in what I watch, what I buy, what I admire, or what I envy?
- The Medes “shall not regard silver” (verse 17). Babylon’s wealth couldn’t save it. What am I relying on that would be useless on the day of the Lord?
- The Lord promises, “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30). What would make me less afraid of the signs of the times?
Worth exploring next
- Two Babylons. Read Isaiah 13, Jer. 50–51, and Rev. 17–18 together. How does John reuse Isaiah and Jeremiah’s images for the last days?
- Nephi’s text. Compare Isaiah 13 with 2 Ne. 23, especially verses 3, 15, and 22. How do the differences change the chapter’s message?
- Leaving Babylon. Read D&C 133:4–15. What does the Lord ask His people to do in response to Babylon?
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
Nephi’s text of this chapter (2 Ne. 23) reads differently from the King James Version in 11 verses. The BoM markers show the 8 where more than a small word changes.
- 2 Ne. 23 — Nephi quotes the chapter, with significant differences in verses 3, 15, and 22.
- Rev. 18 — John’s vision of the fall of latter-day Babylon.
- D&C 133:5–14 — The Lord’s command to go out from Babylon.
Sources & further reading
- “Babylon or Babel”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Assyria and Babylonia”, Bible Dictionary.
- Chapter 14: A Voice of Warning to the Wicked (Isaiah 13–23), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
- John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.