Isaiah 21

The Fall of Babylon

21The oracle of the wilderness of the sea:

As storm winds passing over in the Negev,

it comes^a from the desert,

from a frightful land.

²A hard revelation is told to me;

the treacherous deals treacherously,

and the destroyer destroys.

Go up, Elam;

lay siege, Media!

I put an end to all of her sighing.

³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth.

I am too bent to hear,^b

I am too dismayed to see.^c

⁴My mind^d staggers; fear terrifies me;

the twilight I desired^e brought^f me fear.

⁵Set out the table in order!

Spread out the rugs!^g

Eat! drink!

Rise up, commanders;

smear^h the shield!

⁶For the Lord said this to me:

“Go, set a watchman in position.

He must announce what he sees.

⁷Whenⁱ he sees riders,^j

a pair of horsemen,

riders^k of donkeys,^l

riders^m of camels,ⁿ

then^o he must listen attentively,

paying attention, paying special^p attention.”

⁸Then^q the watchman^r called,

“Lord, I am standing on the watchtower continually by day,

and I am standing at my post throughout^s the night.

⁹And look at this! A man’s chariot is coming,

a pair of horsemen!”

Then^t he responded and said,

“It has fallen! Babylon has fallen!

And all the images of her gods are^u smashed on the ground!”

¹⁰My downtrodden people

and the son of my threshing floor,

I will announce to you what I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel.

Oracle regarding Dumah

¹¹The oracle of Dumah:

One is calling to me from Seir,

“Watchman, what of^v the night?

Watchman, what of^w the night?”

¹²The watchman says,

“Morning comes,

and also the night.

If you will inquire, inquire;

come back again.”^x

Oracle against Arabia

¹³An oracle concerning^y Arabia:

You will spend the night in the thicket in a desert-plateau,^z

caravans of Dedanites.

¹⁴When you happen to meet^a the thirsty, bring water.

Inhabitants of the land of Tema came to meet the fugitive with his bread.

¹⁵For they have fled from the swords,

from the drawn sword and the bent bow,

and from the heaviness of the battle.

¹⁶For the Lord said this to me:

“In one more year,^b like the years of a hired worker,

all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.

¹⁷And the remainder of the number of the bows^c of the warriors of the sons of Kedar will be few.”

For Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken.