Isaiah 13:4

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2 “Lift^a up a banner ^bon the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
^cWave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

3 I have commanded My¹ sanctified ones;
I have also called ^aMy mighty ones for My anger—
Those who ^brejoice in My exaltation.”

4 The ^anoise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts musters
The army for battle.

5 They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven—
The ^aLord and His weapons of indignation,
To destroy the whole ^bland.

6 Wail, ^afor the day of the Lord is at hand!
^bIt will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,

8 And they will be afraid.
^aPangs¹ and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.

9 Behold, ^athe day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy ^bits sinners from it.

10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be ^adarkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

11 “I will ^apunish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
^bI will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the¹ terrible.

12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13 ^aTherefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in ^bthe day of His fierce anger.

14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle,
And as a sheep that no man¹ takes up;
^aEvery man will turn to his own people,
And everyone will flee to his own land.

15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through,
And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

16 Their children also will be ^adashed to pieces before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ^bravished.

17 “Behold,^a I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not¹ regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.

18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.

19 ^aAnd Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew ^bSodom and Gomorrah.

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

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Isaiah 13:5 >>

Isaiah 13:4

The noise of a multitude in the mountains - The prophet here represents himself as hearing the confused tumult of the nations assembling to the standard reared on the mountains Isaiah 13:2. This is a highly beautiful figure - a graphic and vivid representation of the scene before him. Nations are seen to hasten to the elevated banner, and to engage in active preparations for the mighty war. The sound is that of a tumult, an excited multitude hastening to the encampment, and preparing for the conquest of Babylon.

Like as of a great people - Hebrew, ' The likeness of a great people.' That is, such a confused and tumultuous sound as attends a great multitude when they collect together.

A tumultuous noise - Hebrew, ' The voice of the tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together.'

The Lord of hosts - Yahweh, the God of hosts, or armies (note Isaiah 1:9).

Mustereth - Collects; puts in military array. Over all this multitude of nations, hastening with confused sounds and tumult like the noise of the sea, putting themselves in military array, God, unseen, presides, and prepares them for his own great designs. It is not easy to conceive a more sublime image than these mighty hosts of war, unconscious of the hand that directs them, and of the God that presides over them, moving as he wills, and accomplishing his plans.

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Isaiah 13:4:**

Psalms 42:4
Song of Solomon 2:8-17
Isaiah 5:14
Isaiah 21:1
Isaiah 24:22
Isaiah 60:5
Isaiah 63:15
Joel 2:11
Obadiah 1:1

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Isaiah 13:5 >>

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