Isaiah 21

Chapter 21

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

¹The ^1aoracle concerning the ^2bwilderness of the sea.

As ^cwindstorms in the ³Negev sweep on,

It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

²A ^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.

³For 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.

⁴My ¹mind reels, ²horror overwhelms me;

The twilight I longed for has been ^aturned for me into trembling.

⁵They ^aset the table, they ¹spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;

“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

⁶For 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.”

⁸Then 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.”

¹⁰O 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.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

¹¹The ¹oracle concerning ^2aEdom.

One keeps calling to me from ^bSeir,

“Watchman, ³how far gone is the night?

Watchman, how far gone is the night?”

¹²The watchman says,

“Morning comes but also night.

If you would inquire, inquire;

Come back again.”

¹³The ¹oracle about ^aArabia.

In the thickets of Arabia you ²must spend the night,

O caravans of ^bDedanites.

¹⁴Bring water ¹for the thirsty,

O inhabitants of the land of ^aTema,

Meet the fugitive with bread.

¹⁵For they have ^afled from the swords,

From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow

And from the press of battle.

¹⁶For thus the Lord said to me, “In a ^ayear, as ¹a hired man would count it, all the splendor of ^bKedar will terminate;

¹⁷and 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.”