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Is it just me, or does this sound familiar?

As I read my bible the other night, this verse stopped me cold. I felt as if I was listening to the news of March 2003. I have read and heard much of President Bush's religiosity, and this passage sounds like what was whispered in his ear. Some say he feels "led". Often that is code for rationalizing something one has already settled on. He has often suggested that he feels he's obeying God's will.

I wonder if he feels this is his prophecy to fulfill.

Isaiah 13 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
NIV at IBS International Bible Society NIV at Zondervan Zondervan

Isaiah 13
A Prophecy Against Babylon
1 An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:



2 Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,

shout to them;

beckon to them

to enter the gates of the nobles.

3 I have commanded my holy ones;

I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath-

those who rejoice in my triumph.



4 Listen, a noise on the mountains,

like that of a great multitude!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,

like nations massing together!

The LORD Almighty is mustering

an army for war.

5 They come from faraway lands,

from the ends of the heavens-

the LORD and the weapons of his wrath-

to destroy the whole country.



6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;

it will come like destruction from the Almighty. [a]

7 Because of this, all hands will go limp,

every man's heart will melt.

8 Terror will seize them,

pain and anguish will grip them;

they will writhe like a woman in labor.

They will look aghast at each other,

their faces aflame.



9 See, the day of the LORD is coming

-a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-

to make the land desolate

and destroy the sinners within it.

10 The stars of heaven and their constellations

will not show their light.

The rising sun will be darkened

and the moon will not give its light.

11 I will punish the world for its evil,

the wicked for their sins.

I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty

and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold,

more rare than the gold of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;

and the earth will shake from its place

at the wrath of the LORD Almighty,

in the day of his burning anger.



14 Like a hunted gazelle,

like sheep without a shepherd,

each will return to his own people,

each will flee to his native land.

15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;

all who are caught will fall by the sword.

16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;

their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.



17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes,

who do not care for silver

and have no delight in gold.

18 Their bows will strike down the young men;

they will have no mercy on infants

nor will they look with compassion on children.

19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,

the glory of the Babylonians' [b] pride,

will be overthrown by God

like Sodom and Gomorrah.

20 She will never be inhabited

or lived in through all generations;

no Arab will pitch his tent there,

no shepherd will rest his flocks there.

21 But desert creatures will lie there,

jackals will fill her houses;

there the owls will dwell,

and there the wild goats will leap about.

22 Hyenas will howl in her strongholds,

jackals in her luxurious palaces.

Her time is at hand,

and her days will not be prolonged.



Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 13:6 Hebrew Shaddai
2. Isaiah 13:19 Or Chaldeans'