Isaiah 21-22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Oracles concerning Babylon, Edom, and Arabia
21 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the desert,
from a terrible land.(A)
2 A stern vision is told to me;
the betrayer betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam;
lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.(B)
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.(C)
4 My mind reels; horror has appalled me;
the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.(D)
5 They prepare the table;
they spread the rugs;
they eat; they drink.
Rise up, commanders;
oil the shield!(E)
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, post a lookout;
let him announce what he sees.
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him watch closely,
very closely.”(F)
8 Then the watcher[a] called out:
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
throughout the night.(G)
9 Look, there they come, riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
Then he responded,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground.”(H)
10 O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.(I)
11 The oracle concerning Dumah.
One is calling to me from Seir,
“Sentinel, what of the night?
Sentinel, what of the night?”(J)
12 The sentinel says:
“Morning comes and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.”
13 The oracle concerning the desert plain.
In the scrub of the desert plain you will lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.(K)
14 Bring water to the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema;
meet the fugitive with bread.(L)
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the stress of battle.(M)
16 For thus the Lord said to me: “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end,(N) 17 and the remaining bows of Kedar’s warriors will be few, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”(O)
A Warning of Destruction of Jerusalem
22 The oracle concerning the valley of vision.
What has happened that you have gone up,
all of you, to the housetops,(P)
2 city full of shouting,
tumultuous city, panic-stricken town?
Your slain are not slain by the sword,
nor are they dead in battle.(Q)
3 Your rulers have all fled together;
they were captured without the use of a bow.[b]
All of your people who were found were captured,
though they had fled far away.[c](R)
4 Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
let me weep bitter tears;
do not try to comfort me
for the destruction of my beloved people.”(S)
5 For the Lord God of hosts has a day
of tumult and trampling and confusion
in the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
and a cry for help to the mountains.(T)
6 Elam bore the quiver
with chariots and cavalry,[d]
and Kir uncovered the shield.(U)
7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
and the cavalry took their stand at the gates.(V)
8 He has taken away the covering of Judah.
On that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest,(W) 9 and you saw that there were many breaches in the city of David, and you collected the waters of the lower pool.(X) 10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it or have regard for him who planned it long ago.(Y)
12 On that day the Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for baldness and putting on sackcloth,(Z)
13 but instead there was joy and festivity,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating meat and drinking wine.
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”(AA)
14 The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,”
says the Lord God of hosts.(AB)
Denunciation of Self-Seeking Officials
15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Go to the steward Shebna, who is master of the household, and say to him:(AC) 16 What right do you have here? Who are your relatives here, that you have cut out a tomb here for yourself, cutting a tomb[e] on the height and carving a habitation for yourself[f] in the rock?(AD) 17 The Lord is about to hurl you away violently, my fellow. He will seize firm hold on you, 18 whirl you round and round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land; there you shall die, and there your splendid chariots shall lie, O you disgrace to your master’s house!(AE) 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your post.
20 “On that day I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah(AF) 21 and will clothe him with your robe and bind your sash on him. I will commit your authority to his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.(AG) 23 I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his ancestral house.(AH) 24 And they will hang on him the whole weight of his ancestral house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will perish, for the Lord has spoken.”(AI)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.