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Isaiah 13:9
ESV Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.
NIV 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.
NASB Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
CSB Look, the day of the Lord is coming— cruel, with rage and burning anger— to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners.
NLT For see, the day of the Lord is coming — the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it.
KJV Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
NKJV Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.

What does Isaiah 13:9 mean?

The "day of the Lord" has come. In Old Testament prophecy, this phrase carries enormous weight. It usually indicates a time of great terror and suffering as God unleashes His wrath against human sinfulness (Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 1:15; Obadiah 1:15). In this case, the day of the Lord has come for the proud nation of Babylon (Isaiah 13:1).

This judgment coming for Babylon is described using a Hebrew word, often translated as "cruel," which carries the idea of something fierce and ruthless. This is also tied to God's holy anger. This is an uncomfortable description, and one of the only times in Scripture where the Lord's own actions are designated that way. Modern language often associates cruelty with sadism: a deliberate attempt to cause pain. However, the main meaning is the opposite of mercy: this is an unchanging, unrelenting, absolute form of judgment. This is even more terrifying because it is always just. It is always in proportion to human sinfulness. It delivers the fierce punishment our sin deserves for violating the commands of the Lord, as well as worshiping false versions of His divine nature. When human beings are cruel, we forget our own limitations and imperfections—God has no such flaws, so what might be "cruel" for mankind is the result of holy anger when applied by God.

In this case, the wrath of God has assembled armies from multiple nations that He will use to make the land of Babylon a wasteland (Isaiah 13:3–5). He is preparing to destroy all the sinners in the land, leaving nothing behind (Isaiah 13:6).
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