Isaiah 21:1–22:25
God Commands That Babylon Be Taken
1 The 1aoracle concerning the 2bwilderness of the sea.
As cwindstorms in the 3Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
2 A aharsh vision has been shown to me;
The btreacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, cElam, lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all 1the groaning she has caused.
3 For this reason my aloins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a bwoman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
4 My 1mind reels, 2horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been aturned for me into trembling.
5 They aset the table, they 1spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”
6 For thus the Lord says to me,
“Go, station the lookout, let him areport what he sees.
7 “When he sees ariders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”
8 Then 1the lookout called,
“aO Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9 “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “aFallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the bimages of her gods 1are shattered on the ground.”
10 O my athreshed people, and my 1afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.
11 The 1oracle concerning 2aEdom.
One keeps calling to me from bSeir,
“Watchman, 3how far gone is the night?
Watchman, 3how far gone is the night?”
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”
In the thickets of Arabia you 2must spend the night,
O caravans of bDedanites.
14 Bring water 1for the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of aTema,
Meet the fugitive with bread.
15 For they have afled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow
And from the press of battle.
16 For thus the Lord said to me, “In a ayear, as 1a hired man would count it, all the splendor of bKedar will terminate;
17 and the aremainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel bhas spoken.”
1 The 1oracle concerning the avalley of vision.
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the bhousetops?
You boisterous town, you aexultant city;
Your slain were bnot slain with the sword,
Nor 1did they die in battle.
3 aAll your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured 1without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
2Though they had fled far away.
4 Therefore I say, “Turn your eyes away from me,
Let me aweep bitterly,
Do not 1try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 aFor the Lord 1God of hosts has a bday of panic, csubjugation and confusion
dIn the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying 2to the mountain.
6 aElam took up the quiver
With the chariots, 1infantry and horsemen;
And bKir uncovered the shield.
7 Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
8 And He removed the 1defense of Judah.
In that day you 2depended on the weapons of the ahouse of the forest,
9 And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you acollected the waters of the lower pool.
10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And you made a reservoir abetween the two walls
For the waters of the bold pool.
But you did not 1depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you 2take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
12 Therefore in that day the Lord 1God of hosts called you to aweeping, to wailing,
To bshaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.
13 Instead, there is agaiety and gladness,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
“bLet us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14 But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself 1to me,
“Surely this ainiquity bshall not be 2forgiven you
cUntil you die,” says the Lord 3God of hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord 1God of hosts,
“Come, go to this steward,
To aShebna, who is in charge of the royal household,
16 ‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have ahewn a tomb for yourself here,
You who hew a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for 1yourself in the rock?
17 ‘Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you headlong, O man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18 And roll you tightly like a ball,
To be acast into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
19 “I will adepose you from your office,
And 1I will pull you down from your station.
20 “Then it will come about in that day,
That I will summon My servant aEliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21 And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely about him.
I will entrust him with your 1authority,
And he will become a afather to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 “Then I will set athe key of the bhouse of David on his shoulder,
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will copen.
23 “I will drive him like a apeg in a firm place,
And he will become a bthrone of glory to his father’s house.
24 “So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and 1issue, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars.
25 “In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the apeg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even bbreak off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the cLord has spoken.”