Isaiah 21:1–10

God’s Message to Babylon

21This is a message about the Desert by the Sea: ⁿ

Disaster is coming from the desert

like wind blowing in the south.

It is coming from a terrible country.

²I have seen a terrible vision.

I see traitors turning against you

and people taking your wealth.

Elam, attack the people!

Media, surround the city and attack it!

I will bring an end to the pain the city causes.

³I saw those terrible things, and now I am in pain;

my pains are like the pains of giving birth.

What I hear makes me very afraid;

what I see causes me to shake with fear.

⁴I am worried,

and I am shaking with fear.

My pleasant evening

has become a night of fear.

⁵They set the table;

they spread the rugs;

they eat and drink.

Leaders, stand up.

Prepare the shields for battle!

⁶The Lord said to me,

“Go, place a lookout for the city

and have him report what he sees.

⁷If he sees chariots and teams of horses,

donkeys, or camels,

he should pay very close attention.”

⁸Then the lookout called out,

“My master, each day I stand in the watchtower watching;

every night I have been on guard.

⁹Look, I see a man coming in a chariot

with a team of horses.”

The man gives back the answer,

“Babylon has fallen. It has fallen!

All the statues of her gods

lie broken on the ground.”

¹⁰My people are crushed like grain on the threshing floor.

My people, I tell you what I have heard

from the Lord All-Powerful,

from the God of Israel.