The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified,
Pains and anguish will grip them;
They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.
They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,
Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].

Moreover, I will so shake the heaven, that the earth shall remove out of her place. Thus shall it go with Babylon in the wrath of the LORD of Hosts in the day of his fearful indignation.

And Babylon shall be as a hunted or chased doe, and as a flock without a shepherd. Every man shall turn to his own people, and flee each one into his own land.

Their bows will cut down the young men [of Babylon];
They will take no pity on the fruit of the womb,
Their eyes will not look with compassion on the children.

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.

Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,
and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time is almost up;
her days are almost over.

For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel).

that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

“Even the cypress trees rejoice over you [kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’

“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!

And I will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, saith Jehovah.

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):

As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,
So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.

A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end.

My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me.

And behold, there cometh a chariot of men; horsemen by pairs. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].

At that time, Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and recovered.

And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?" And Hezekiah {answered}, "They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon."

'Look! days [are] coming, and all that [is] in your house and that which your ancestors have stored up to this day shall be carried off [to] Babylon. Nothing shall be left,' says Yahweh.

'And some of your sons who go out from you, whom you fathered, shall be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: "For your sake I will send [to] Babylon, and I will cause all of them to fall down [as] fugitives, and {the Chaldeans}, their rejoicing on the ships.

Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle.
Your burdens [of idols] are loaded [on them],
Burdens on the weary animals.

Come down and sit on [the] dust, virgin daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Chaldea! For {they shall no longer call} you tender and delicate.

“I was angry with My people,
I profaned [Judah] My inheritance
And gave them into your hand [Babylon].
You showed them no mercy;
You made your yoke very heavy on the aged.

“For you [Babylon] have trusted and felt confident in your wickedness; you have said,
‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray,
And you have said in your heart (mind),
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’

“Persist, then, [Babylon] in your enchantments
And your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit [from them],
Perhaps you may prevail and cause trembling.

“You are wearied by your many counsels.
Just let the astrologers,
The stargazers,
Those who predict by the new moons [each month]
Stand up and save you from the things that will come upon you [Babylon].

Assemble, all of you, and hear! Who among them declared these [things]? Yahweh loves him; he shall perform his wish against Babylon and his arm [against] {the Chaldeans}.

Go out from Babylon! Flee from Chaldea! Proclaim [it] with a shout of rejoicing; proclaim this! {Send it forth} to the end of the earth; say, "Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!"

For the Lord God says this, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there; and [many years later Sennacherib] the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

Depart, depart, go out from there (the lands of exile),
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out of the midst of her (Babylon), purify yourselves,
You who carry the articles of the Lord [on your journey from there].