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The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
Isaiah 13:1 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:
  • KJV The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
  • BSB This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
  • NASB The pronouncement concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:
  • NLT Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon:

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

This begins Isaiah's prophetic oracle of judgment against Babylon. God pronounces doom on the great world power.

Overview

The 'burden' (a weighty prophetic oracle) concerns Babylon, the empire that would later carry Judah into exile. That Isaiah 'saw' it underscores its divine origin as revelation. The chapter establishes that even the mightiest kingdoms stand under God's judgment and that he rules the rise and fall of nations.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • Jer 50:1The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
  • Isa 47:1–15“Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.
  • Isa 1:1The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
  • Rev 17:1–18One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
  • Dan 5:6Then the king’s face was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his thighs were loosened, and his knees struck one against another.
  • Dan 5:28PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
  • Isa 14:4–23that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!”
  • Jer 25:12–26“It shall happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation,” says Yahweh, “for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever.
  • Isa 21:1–11The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
  • Isa 13:19Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
  • Isa 14:28This burden was in the year that king Ahaz died.
  • Isa 15:1The burden of Moab: for in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.
  • Ezek 12:10“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.”’
  • Isa 43:14Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.
  • Hab 1:1The revelation which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
  • Isa 21:13The burden on Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, you caravans of Dedanites.
  • Zech 9:1A revelation. Yahweh’s word is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus; for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;
  • Isa 17:1The burden of Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap.
  • Isa 22:1The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
  • Isa 22:25“In that day,” says Yahweh of Armies, “the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down, and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for Yahweh has spoken it.”
  • Nah 1:1A revelation about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
  • Jer 23:33–38“When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, ‘What is the message from Yahweh?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘“What message? I will cast you off,” says Yahweh.’
  • Mal 1:1A revelation, Yahweh’s word to Israel by Malachi.
  • Isa 44:1–2Yet listen now, Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.
  • Isa 19:1The burden of Egypt: “Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it.
  • Zech 12:1A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 13:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 13:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.