BIBLE PROPHECY:IRAQ WILL NEVER BE REBUILT IRAQ? IRAQ?
Isaiah 13:19-22 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
    
 19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
       the glory of the Babylonians' [a] pride,
       will be overthrown by God
       like Sodom and Gomorrah.
 20 She will never be inhabited
       or lived in through all generations;
       no Arab will pitch his tent there,
       no shepherd will rest his flocks there.
 21 But desert creatures will lie there,
       jackals will fill her houses;
       there the owls will dwell,
       and there the wild goats will leap about.
 22 Hyenas will howl in her strongholds,
       jackals in her luxurious palaces.
       Her time is at hand,
       and her days will not be prolonged
Isaiah 13:19-22 (The Message)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
  
 17-22"And now watch this:
   Against Babylon, I'm inciting the Medes,
A ruthless bunch indifferent to bribes,
   the kind of brutality that no one can blunt.
They massacre the young,
   wantonly kick and kill even babies.
And Babylon, most glorious of all kingdoms,
   the pride and joy of Chaldeans,
Will end up smoking and stinking like Sodom,
   and, yes, like Gomorrah, when God had finished with them.
No one will live there anymore,
   generation after generation a ghost town.
Not even Bedouins will pitch tents there.
   Shepherds will give it a wide berth.
But strange and wild animals will like it just fine,
   filling the vacant houses with eerie night sounds.
Skunks will make it their home,
   and unspeakable night hags will haunt it.
Hyenas will curdle your blood with their laughing,
   and the howling of coyotes will give you the shivers.
   "Babylon is doomed.
   It won't be long now."
Isaiah 13:19-22 (Amplified Bible)
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
    
19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
    20[Babylon] shall never be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arab pitch his tent there, nor shall the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
    21But wild beasts of the desert will lie down there, and the people's houses will be full of dolefully howling creatures; and ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats [like demons] will dance there.
    22And [a]wolves and howling creatures will cry and answer in the deserted castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. And [Babylon's] time has nearly come, and her days will not be prolonged.
    
Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 13:22 This whole prophecy is generally conceded to have been written well over a century (170 years, according to archbishop James Ussher) before Babylon's downfall, when the circumstances necessary for its fulfillment seemed most improbable--but it has been literally fulfilled in detail. Human keenness of foresight could not possibly have foreseen that great Babylon would be wiped from the face of the earth (Isa. 13:19), become ruins infested by wild animals (Isa. 13:21, 22), be feared because of superstition by the Arabs (Isa. 13:20)--with only a small village near the area to mark the place where, since the days of Nimrod, mighty kings had exalted themselves above the God of heaven. Various conquerors during the centuries contributed to Babylon's downfall until, by the first century B.C., it was as utterly and hopelessly destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah (Isa. 13:19).
Isaiah 13:19-22 (Contemporary English Version)
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
 
The LORD Will Destroy Babylon
 19The city of Babylon
   is glorious and powerful,
   the pride of the nation.
   But it will be like the cities
   of Sodom and Gomorrah
   after I, the Lord,
   destroyed them.
    20 No one will live in Babylon.
   Even nomads won't camp nearby,
   and shepherds won't let
   their sheep rest there.
    21Only desert creatures,
   hoot owls, and ostriches
   will live in its ruins,
   and goats [a] will leap about. 22Hyenas and wolves will howl
   from Babylon's fortresses
   and beautiful palaces.
   Its time is almost up!
    
Isaiah 13:19-22 (New International Reader's Version)
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Copyright © 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society
   

 19 The city of Babylon is the jewel of kingdoms.
      It is the glory and pride of the Babylonians.
   But God will destroy it
      just as he did Sodom and Gomorrah.
 20 No one will ever live in Babylon again.
      No one will live there for all time to come.
   Arabs will never set up their tents there.
      Shepherds will never rest their flocks there.
 21 But desert creatures will lie down there.
      Wild dogs will fill its houses.
   Owls will live there.
      Wild goats will jump around in it.
 22 Hyenas will cry out in its forts.
      Wild dogs will bark in its beautiful palaces.
   The time for Babylon to be punished is near.
      Its days are numbered.