Passage

Isaiah 13.15-18

Book: Isaiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"13. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14. And it shall come to pass, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land."

"15. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword. 16. Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished. 17. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18. And their bows shall dash the young men in 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 Chaldeans' pride, 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 shepherds make their flocks to lie down there." (Isaiah 13:13-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"13. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in Yahweh of Armies’ wrath, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14. It will happen that like a hunted gazelle, and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land."

"15. Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16. Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped. 17. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it. 18. Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children."

"19. Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20. It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there." (Isaiah 13:13-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. 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. ^{as: Heb. as the overthrowing} 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." (Isaiah 13:13-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"13. Therefore the heavens I cause to tremble, And the earth doth shake from its place, In the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts, And in a day of the heat of his anger. 14. And it hath been, as a roe driven away, And as a flock that hath no gatherer, Each unto his people, they turn, And each unto his land, they flee."

"15. Every one who is found is thrust through, And every one who is added falleth by sword. 16. And their sucklings are dashed to pieces before their eyes, Spoiled are their houses, and their wives lain with. 17. Lo, I am stirring up against them the Medes, Who silver esteem not, And gold, they delight not in it. 18. And bows dash young men to pieces, And the fruit of the womb they pity not, On sons their eye hath no pity."

"19. And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, The glory, the excellency of the Chaldeans, Hath been as overthrown by God, With Sodom and with Gomorrah. 20. She doth not sit for ever, Nor continueth unto many generations, Nor doth Arab pitch tent there, And shepherds lie not down there." (Isaiah 13:13-20, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

God and the Killing of Children

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.