Isaiah 13:6
in Isaiah 13Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
KJV
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
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This verse in Isaiah 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 6, 7.) Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Lord. Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every man's heart will melt, and be crushed. For the warriors of the Lord are coming to destroy all the earth, howl and repent, for punishment is coming. For the day of the Lord is near, the end of the world, and judgment, or the end of each person's life. For plunder comes from the Lord, which we call destruction, to keep the metaphor, because the warriors had been sent ahead.
This site's exposition
Listen, a tumult on the mountains
on Isaiah 13:4-8
The tumult on the mountains gathers many nations under one command, the LORD of Hosts mobilizing an army. The prophet cries that "the Day of the LORD is near," coming as destruction from the Almighty. Writhing "like a woman in labor" is one of the oldest figures for sudden dread.
This site's exposition
the Day of the LORD is near
The Day of the LORD is the day He acts in judgment, here against Babylon, as Barnes and Jerome both read it. The Hebrew sets shod, destruction, beside Shaddai, the Almighty, and Joel 1:15 repeats the line. The call to wail goes to the Chaldeans.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vers. 5, 6.) How has the tax collector ceased, the tribute rested? The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked: the rod of the rulers, smiting the people in wrath, with an incurable plague, subjecting the nations in fury, persecuting cruelly. In the Epistle of Peter we read: The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). And in Ezekiel it is said to the tormentors: Begin with my sanctuary (Ezekiel 9:6). For the diversity of sin, the order of judgment is established: so that those who have sinned less, may be purified first. But the final enemy to be destroyed is death. Therefore, when Israel has been liberated from harsh bondage, he will take up a parable against the king of Babylon, which we must understand as a parable. For if the speech is about Nebuchadnezzar and a simple explanation of history, how can it be called a parable, which is not compared to any other thing? So Israel wonders how the tax collector, who used to collect all the way to the last penny, has ceased. However, he is accustomed to pursue only debtors, who say in the Lord's Prayer: Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors (Matth. VI, 12). These debtors are handed over to the collector by the judge, who sends them to prison and exacts from them up to the smallest sin. Moreover, the Apostle Paul also handed over to the collector the fornicator in Corinth, who had married his father's wife, as well as Phygellus and Hermogenes (I Cor. V; II Tim. I). And concerning these tax collectors, it is also said: My people, your tax collectors plunder you; and those who demand payment, they are your rulers. The eagle has interpreted hunger as tribute. For when our betrothed is taken away from us, we suffer hunger for the word of God, and continually fast from the body of the Lord. […]
(Verse 6) Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Lord. An apostrophe is made to the Chaldean people, that they may resound with weeping for the coming calamities; and let them not doubt the downfall of the city when the Lord the devastator comes.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Howl. Here he describes the affliction of the punishment. And concerning this he sets out three things: first, the fear of those to be punished; second, the affliction: behold, the day (Isa 13:9); third, the ferocity of the punishers, behold I will stir up (Isa …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), a little day of judgment, when God will act as a just avenger of his own and his people's injured cause. And there are those who will have reason to tremble when that day is at hand.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
day of the Lord--day of His vengeance on Babylon (Isa 2:12). Type of the future "day of wrath" (Re 6:17). destruction--literally, "a devastating tempest." from the Almighty--not from mere man; therefore irresistible. "Almighty," Hebrew, Shaddai.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Howl ye - Ye inhabitants of Babylon, in view of the approaching destruction. The day of the Lord - The time when Yahweh will inflict vengeance on you draws near (see the note at Isa 2:12; compare Isa 13:9). As a destruction from the Almighty - Not as a desolation from man, but as destruction sent from him who has all power in heaven and on earth. Destruction meditated by man might be resisted; but destruction that should come from the Almighty must be final and irresistible.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵילִ֕ילוּ | heililu | wail | H3213 → | 30 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קָר֖וֹב | karov | [is] near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּשֹׁ֖ד | keshod | like devastation | H7701 → | 25 times |
| מִשַּׁדַּ֥י | mishadai | from [the] Almighty | H7706 → | |
| יָבֽוֹא׃ | yavo' | it will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
הֵילִ֕ילוּwail
heililuH3213 →30 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
קָר֖וֹב[is] near
karovH7138 →77 times
י֣וֹם[the] day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּשֹׁ֖דlike devastation
keshodH7701 →25 times
מִשַּׁדַּ֥יfrom [the] Almighty
mishadaiH7706 →
יָבֽוֹא׃it will come
yavo'H935 →2568 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 13:9Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it.
it leads to
- Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Malachi 4:1
Through
Joel 1:15Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 30:7
How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 13:6–9
Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Jeremiah 30:7
Through
Zephaniah 1:7Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:20
But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
- Zechariah 2:13
Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
- Habakkuk 2:20
Through
Amos 5:18Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
it leads to
- Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Joel 2:1–2
Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—
- Joel 2:31
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Joel 1:15
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.