Isaiah 21

A Message About Babylonia

21Here is a message the Lord gave me about Babylonia. It is known as the Desert by the Two Rivers.

An attack is coming through the desert.

It is coming from a land of terror.

It’s sweeping along like a windstorm blowing across the Negev Desert.

²I have seen a vision about something terrible that will happen.

People are turning against Babylon.

Robbers are taking its goods.

Elamites, attack the city! Medes, surround it!

The Lord will put an end to all of the suffering Babylon has caused.

³The vision fills my body with pain.

Pains take hold of me.

They are like the pains of a woman having a baby.

I am shaken by what I hear.

I’m terrified by what I see.

⁴My heart grows weak.

Fear makes me tremble.

I longed for evening to come.

But it brought me horror instead of rest.

⁵In my vision the Babylonians set the tables.

They spread the rugs out.

They eat. They drink.

Get up, you officers!

Rub your shields with oil!

⁶The Lord said to me,

“Go. Put a guard on duty on Jerusalem’s walls.

Have him report what he sees.

⁷Tell him to watch for chariots

that are pulled by teams of horses.

Tell him to watch for men riding on donkeys or camels.

Make sure he stays awake.

Make sure he stays wide awake.”

⁸“My master!” the guard shouts back.

“Day after day I stand here on the lookout tower.

Every night I stay here on duty.

⁹Look! Here comes a man in a chariot!

It’s being pulled by a team of horses.

He’s calling out the news,

‘Babylon has fallen! It has fallen!

All of the statues of its gods

lie broken in pieces on the ground!’ ”

¹⁰My people, you have been crushed

like grain on a threshing floor.

But now I’m telling you the good news I’ve heard.

It comes from the Lord who rules over all.

He is the God of Israel.

A Message About Edom

¹¹Here is a message the Lord gave me about Edom.

Someone is calling out to me from the land of Seir. He says,

“Guard, when will the night be over?

Guard, how soon will it end?”

¹²The guard answers,

“Morning is coming. But the night will return.

If you want to ask again,

come back and ask.”

A Message About Arabia

¹³Here is a message the Lord gave me about Arabia.

He told me to give orders to traders from Dedan.

They were camping in the bushes of Arabia.

¹⁴I told them to bring water for those who are thirsty.

I also gave orders to those who live in Tema.

I told them to bring food for those who are running away.

¹⁵They are running away from where the fighting is heaviest.

That’s where the swords are ready to strike.

That’s where the bows are ready to shoot.

¹⁶The Lord says to me, “In exactly one year, Kedar’s grand show of power will come to an end. ¹⁷Only a few of Kedar’s soldiers who shoot arrows will be left alive.” The Lord has spoken. He is the God of Israel.