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20 
Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.
21 
But desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and [a]wild goats will dance there.
22 
[b]Hyenas will howl in their castles,
And jackals in their luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time has nearly come,
And her days will not be prolonged.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 13:21 Another possibility is goat demons.
  2. Isaiah 13:22 This prophecy was written well over a century before Babylon’s downfall in 539 b.c.

20 She will never be inhabited(A)
    or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads(B) will pitch their tents,
    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures(C) will lie there,
    jackals(D) will fill her houses;
there the owls(E) will dwell,
    and there the wild goats(F) will leap about.
22 Hyenas(G) will inhabit her strongholds,(H)
    jackals(I) her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,(J)
    and her days will not be prolonged.(K)

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