What will you do on the day you are called to account ⌞for these things⌟, when the disaster comes from far away? Where will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
He will raise a banner for the nations ⌞to gather around⌟. He will gather the outcasts of Israel and bring together the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Listen to the noise on the mountains. It is like the sound of a large army. It is the sound of kingdoms and nations gathering together. The Lord of Armies is assembling his army for battle.
In terror they will run to their stronghold, and their officers will be frightened at ⌞the sight of⌟ the battle flag. The Lord declares this. His fire is in Zion and his furnace is in Jerusalem.
Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did these men say? And where did they come from?” Hezekiah answered, “They came to me from the distant country of Babylon.”
The enemy comes up like clouds. His chariots are like a raging wind. His horses are faster than eagles. How horrible it will be for us! We will be destroyed!
Nation of Israel, I’m going to bring a nation from far away to attack you, declares the Lord. It is a nation that has lasted a long time. It is an ancient nation. You don’t know the language of this nation. You can’t understand what its people say.
Raise your battle flag throughout the world. Blow the ram’s horn among the nations. Prepare nations to attack Babylon. Tell the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to attack it. Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Bring up horses like a swarm of locusts.
“ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: You are the one I spoke about long ago through my servants the prophets of Israel. They prophesied in those days that I would bring you to attack them.
Their horses will be faster than leopards and quicker than wolves in the evening. Their riders will gallop along proudly. Their riders will come from far away. They will fly like an eagle that swoops down for its prey.
“From the nations where the sun rises to the nations where the sun sets, my name will be great. Incense and pure offerings will be offered everywhere in my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Armies.
The Lord will bring against you a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth. The nation will swoop down on you like an eagle. It will be a nation whose language you won’t understand.