6 Howl, for the day of Jehovah is at hand; it cometh as destruction from the Almighty.
Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Be silent at the presence of the Lord Jehovah; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; for Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath hallowed his guests.
And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for strong is he that executeth his word: for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can bear it?
Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Howl ye, Alas for the day! For the day is at hand, yea, the day of Jehovah is at hand, a day of clouds; it shall be the time of the nations.
Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the earth desolate; and he will destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts upon everything proud and lofty, and upon everything lifted up, and it shall be brought low;
standing afar off, through fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour thy judgment is come.
Go to now, ye rich, weep, howling over your miseries that [are] coming upon [you].
for ye know perfectly well yourselves, that the day of [the] Lord so comes as a thief by night. When they may say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon her that is with child; and they shall in no wise escape.
Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah.
The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly. The voice of the day of Jehovah: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Howl, O gate! cry, O city! thou, Philistia, art wholly dissolved; for there cometh from the north a smoke, and none remaineth apart in his gatherings [of troops].
For calamity from ùGod was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I was powerless.
before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass away as chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you. Seek Jehovah, all ye meek of the land, who have performed his ordinance; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger.
Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.
Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.
Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be against my people, it shall be against all the princes of Israel: they are given up to the sword along with my people: smite therefore upon the thigh.
Howl, Heshbon! for Ai is laid waste; cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth, lament and run to and fro within the enclosures: for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
behold, my servants shall sing aloud for gladness of heart, and *ye* shall cry out for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
and now, what have I here, saith Jehovah, that my people hath been taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith Jehovah; and continually all the day is my name scorned.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 13
Commentary on Isaiah 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
Hitherto the prophecies of this book related only to Judah and Israel, and Jerusalem especially; but now the prophet begins to look abroad, and to read the doom of divers of the neighbouring states and kingdoms: for he that is King of saints is also King of nations, and rules in the affairs of the children of men as well as in those of his own children. But the nations to whom these prophecies do relate were all such as the people of God were in some way or other conversant and concerned with, such as had been kind or unkind to Israel, and accordingly God would deal with them, either in favour or in wrath; for the Lord's portion is his people, and to them he has an eye in all the dispensations of his providence concerning those about them, Deu. 32:8, 9. The threatenings we find here against Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Tyre, etc., were intended for comfort to those in Israel that feared God, but were terrified and oppressed by those potent neighbours, and for alarm to those among them that were wicked. If God would thus severely reckon with those for their sins that knew him not, and made no profession of his name, how severe would he be with those that were called by his name and yet lived in rebellion against him! And perhaps the directing of particular prophecies to the neighbouring nations might invite some of those nations to the reading of the Jews' Bible, and so they might be brought to their religion. This chapter, and that which follows, contain what God had to say to Babylon and Babylon's king, who were at present little known to Israel, but would in process of time become a greater enemy to them than any other had been, for which God would at last reckon with them. In this chapter we have,
Isa 13:1-5
The general title of this book was, The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, ch. 1:1. Here we have that which Isaiah saw, which was represented to his mind as clearly and fully as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes; but the particular inscription of this sermon is the burden of Babylon.
Isa 13:6-18
We have here a very elegant and lively description of the terrible confusion and desolation which should be made in Babylon by the descent which the Medes and Persians should make upon it. Those that were now secure and easy were bidden to howl and make sad lamentation; for,
Isa 13:19-22
The great havoc and destruction which it was foretold should be made by the Medes and Persians in Babylon here end in the final destruction of it.