Isaiah 13:21

Instead, animals that live in the desert will be there; jackals/wolves will live in the ruins of the houses. Owls (OR, Ostriches) will live in the ruins, and wild goats will romp/jump around there.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

In Context

20No one will ever live in Babylon again. It will be deserted forever. ◄Nomads/People who travel from place to place to live► will refuse to set up their tents there; shepherds will not bring their flocks of sheep to rest there.

22Hyenas will howl in the ruined towers, and jackals/wolves will make their dens in the ruins of the palaces that were previously very beautiful. The time when Babylon will be destroyed is very near; Babylon will not exist much longer.

Read all of Isaiah 13

Cross References

Isaiah 14:23I will cause Babylon to be a place where owls live, a place full of swamps; I will get rid of it completely as though [MET] I were sweeping it with a broom. That is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say.”

Isaiah 34:11Ravens and various kinds of owls and small animals will live there. Yahweh will measure that land carefully: He will measure it to to decide where to cause chaos and destruction.

Isaiah 34:14Animals that live in the desert and hyenas/wolves will be there, and wild goats will bleat/call to each other. There will also be creatures/animals that roam around at night.

Revelation 18:2He shouted with a very loud voice, “ God is about to completely destroy [DOU] all the very evil cities (OR, the very evil city) that Babylon represents. As a result, all kinds of evil spirits [DOU] will live there, and all kinds of foul and detestable [DOU] birds will live there.

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 13:20-22

The Doom of Babylon. ( b. c. 739.) 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22 And… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Isaiah 13:21