The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

 1 ^aThe ^bburden of ^cBabylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

 2 Lift ye up a ^abanner upon the high ^bmountain, ^cexalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

 3 I have commanded my ^asanctified ones, I have also called my ^bmighty 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 ^akingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the ^bbattle.

 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to ^adestroy the whole land.

 6 ¶^aHowl ye; for the ^bday 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 ^amelt:

 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in ^apain as a woman that ^btravaileth: 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 ^adestroy 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 ^adarkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

 11 And I will ^apunish the ^bworld 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 ^chaughtiness of the ^dterrible.

 12 I will make a man more ^aprecious than fine gold; even a man than the ^bgolden wedge of Ophir.

 13 Therefore I will ^ashake the heavens, and the ^bearth shall ^cremove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce ^danger.

 14 And it shall be as the ^achased roe, and as a sheep that ^bno man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own ^cpeople, and flee every one into his own ^dland.

 15 Every one that is found shall be ^athrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.

 16 Their ^achildren also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their ^bhouses shall be ^cspoiled, and their wives ravished.

 17 Behold, I will stir up the ^aMedes 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 ^aBabylon, the glory of kingdoms, the ^bbeauty of the ^cChaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God ^doverthrew ^eSodom and Gomorrah.

 20 It shall never be ^ainhabited, 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 ^awild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and ^bsatyrs shall dance there.

 22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate ^ahouses, and ^bdragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.