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Isaiah 13:18
ESV Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.
NIV Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children.
NASB And their bows will mow down the young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their eye pity children.
CSB Their bows will cut young men to pieces. They will have no compassion on offspring; they will not look with pity on children.
NLT The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.'
KJV Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
NKJV 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.

What does Isaiah 13:18 mean?

The prophet Isaiah stated that the Medes would not accept any amount of bribery from the Babylonians to turn back their attack on the city (Isaiah 13:17). Why should they, when they could just take what they wanted after destroying Babylon.

It's important to remember that God's judgment here involved sending multiple sinful people against another. These chapters in Isaiah are prophecies against foreign nations. These nations who did not worship the Lord or follow His commands. He uses them to punish each other for their cruelty and arrogance. In this case, the Lord uses the Medes to punish the Babylonians in the same way that the Babylonians have destroyed others. The atrocities they commit (Isaiah 13:16) are, themselves, sins subject to God's judgment (Mark 4:22; Matthew 12:36).

Now Isaiah says that the bows of the Medes will slaughter the young men of Babylon. No compassion will be found for the pregnant women or children either. This was the way of warfare in the Near East during this time. And unfortunately, that approach has been applied throughout much of human history. This is what is coming for the once-great city of Babylon.
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