Isaiah 21–23

A Judgment on Babylon

21An oracle ^fagainst the desert by the sea: ^g

Like storms that pass over the Negev,

it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.

²A troubling vision is declared to me:

“The treacherous one acts treacherously, ^h

and the destroyer destroys.

Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all her groaning.”

³Therefore I am ⁱfilled with anguish.

Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. ^j

I am too perplexed to hear,

too dismayed to see.

⁴My heart staggers;

horror terrifies me.

He has turned my last glimmer of hope ^k

into sheer terror. ^l

⁵Prepare a table, ^mand spread out a carpet!

Eat and drink!

Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!

⁶For the Lord has said to me,

“Go, post a lookout;

let him report what he sees.

⁷When he sees riders—

pairs of horsemen,

riders on donkeys,

riders on camels—

he must pay close attention.”

⁸Then the lookout ⁿreported,

“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, ^o

and I stay at my post all night.

⁹Look, riders come—

horsemen in pairs.”

And he answered, saying,

“Babylon has fallen, ^phas fallen.

All the images of her gods

have been shattered on the ground.” ^q

¹⁰My people who have been crushed

on the threshing floor, ^r

I have declared to you

what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,

the God of Israel.

An Oracle against Dumah

¹¹An oracle ^sagainst Dumah: ^tu

One calls to me from Seir, ^v

“Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?”

¹²The watchman said,

“Morning has come, and also night.

If you want to ask, ask!

Come back again.”

An Oracle against Arabia

¹³An oracle against Arabia: ^w

In the desert ^xbrush

you will camp for the night,

you caravans of Dedanites. ^y

¹⁴Bring water for the thirsty.

The inhabitants of the land of Tema ^z

meet ^athe refugees with food.

¹⁵For they have fled from swords,

from the drawn sword,

from the bow that is strung,

and from the stress of battle.

¹⁶For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year, ^bas a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar ^cwill be gone. ¹⁷The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.

An Oracle against Jerusalem

22An oracle ^dagainst the Valley of Vision: ^e

What’s the matter with you?

Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops? ^f

²The noisy city, the jubilant town, ^g

is filled with revelry.

Your dead did not die by the sword;

they were not killed in battle.

³All your rulers have fled together,

captured without a bow.

All your fugitives were captured together;

they had fled far away.

⁴Therefore I said,

“Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly! ^h

Do not try to comfort me

about the destruction of my dear ⁱpeople.”

⁵For the Lord God of Hosts

had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion ^j

in the Valley of Vision—

people shouting ^kand crying to the mountains;

⁶Elam took up a quiver

with chariots and horsemen, ^l

and Kir ^muncovered the shield.

⁷Your best valleys were full of chariots,

and horsemen were positioned at the gates.

⁸He removed the defenses of Judah.

On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. ⁿ⁹You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. ^oYou collected water from the lower pool. ^p10You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. ¹¹You made a reservoir between the walls ^qfor the waters of the ancient pool, ^rbut you did not look to the One who made it, or consider the One who created it long ago.

¹²On that day the Lord God of Hosts

called for weeping, ^sfor wailing, for shaven heads,

and for the wearing of sackcloth.

¹³But look: joy and gladness,

butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep,

eating of meat, and drinking of wine—

“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ^t

¹⁴The Lord of Hosts has directly revealed to me: ^u

“This sin of yours will never ^vbe wiped out.” ^w

The Lord God of Hosts has spoken.

An Oracle against Shebna

¹⁵The Lord God of Hosts said: “Go to Shebna, ^xthat steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: ¹⁶What are you doing here? Who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, carving your tomb on the height and cutting a crypt for yourself out of rock? ^y17Look, you strong man! The Lord is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, ¹⁸wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. ^zThere you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be—a disgrace to the house of your lord. ¹⁹I will remove you from your office; you will be ousted from your position.

²⁰“On that day I will call for my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ^a21I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority into his hand, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. ^b22I will place the key ^cof the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. ^d23I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s house. ²⁴They will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the small vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. ²⁵On that day”—the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed.” Indeed, the Lord has spoken.

An Oracle against Tyre

23An oracle ^eagainst Tyre: ^f

Wail, ships of Tarshish, ^g

for your haven has been destroyed.

Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus. ^hi

²Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland,

you merchants of Sidon; ^j

your agents have crossed the sea ^k

³on many waters.

Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor—

the harvest of the Nile.

She was the merchant among the nations. ^l

⁴Be ashamed Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,

for the sea has spoken:

“I have not been in labor or given birth.

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.”

⁵When the news reaches Egypt,

they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre. ^m

⁶Cross over to Tarshish;

wail, inhabitants of the coastland!

⁷Is this your jubilant city,

whose origin was in ancient times,

whose feet have taken her

to settle far away?

⁸Who planned this against Tyre,

the bestower of crowns,

whose traders are princes,

whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?

⁹The Lord of Hosts planned it,

to desecrate all its glorious beauty,

to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.

¹⁰Overflow ⁿyour land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;

there is no longer anything to restrain you. ^o

¹¹He stretched out His hand over the sea; ^p

He made kingdoms tremble.

The Lord has commanded

that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

¹²He said,

“You will not rejoice anymore,

ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon.

Get up and cross over to Cyprus ^q—

even there you will have no rest!”

¹³Look at the land of the Chaldeans—

a people who no longer exist.

Assyria destined it for desert creatures.

They set up their siege towers

and stripped its palaces.

They made it a ruin.

¹⁴Wail, ships of Tarshish,

because your fortress is destroyed!

¹⁵On that day Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years—the life span of one king. At the end of 70 years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:

¹⁶Pick up your lyre,

stroll through the city,

prostitute forgotten by men.

Play skillfully,

sing many a song,

and you will be thought of again.

¹⁷And at the end of the 70 years, ^rthe Lord will restore Tyre ^sand she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. ¹⁸But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the Lord. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the Lord’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.