Isaiah 21

New American Standard Bible

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

21 The ^(A)pronouncement concerning the ^[a]^(B)wilderness of the sea:

As ^(C)windstorms in the ^[b]Negev come in turns,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
²A ^(D)harsh vision has been shown to me;
The ^(E)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, ^(F)Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have put an end to all ^[c]the groaning she has caused.
³For this reason my ^(G)loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a ^(H)woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
⁴My ^[d]mind reels, ^[e]horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been ^(I)turned into trembling for me.
⁵They ^(J)set the table, they ^[f]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields!”

⁶For this is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, station the lookout, have him ^(K)report what he sees.
⁷When he sees ^[g]a ^(L)column of chariots, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
He is to pay close attention, very close attention.”

⁸Then ^[h]the lookout called,

“^(M)Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
⁹Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “^(N)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the ^(O)images of her gods ^[i]are shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰My ^(P)downtrodden people, and my ^[j]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Pronouncements about Edom and Arabia

¹¹The pronouncement concerning ^[k]^(Q)Edom:

One keeps calling to me from ^(R)Seir,
“Watchman, ^[l]how far gone is the night?
Watchman, ^[m]how far gone is the night?”
¹²The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”

¹³The pronouncement about ^(S)Arabia:

In the thickets of Arabia you ^[n]must spend the night,
You caravans of ^(T)Dedanites.
¹⁴Bring water ^[o]for the thirsty,
You inhabitants of the land of ^(U)Tema;
Meet the fugitive with bread.
¹⁵For they have ^(V)fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow,
And from the press of battle.

¹⁶For this is what the Lord said to me: “In a ^(W)year, as ^[p]a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of ^(X)Kedar will come to an end; ¹⁷and the ^(Y)remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel ^(Z)has spoken.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 21:1 Or sandy wastes, sea country
Isaiah 21:1 I.e., South country
Isaiah 21:2 Lit her groaning
Isaiah 21:4 Lit heart has wandered
Isaiah 21:4 Lit shuddering
Isaiah 21:5 Or spread out the rugs or possibly they arranged the seating
Isaiah 21:7 Or riders
Isaiah 21:8 As in DSS; MT he called like a lion
Isaiah 21:9 Lit he has shattered to the earth
Isaiah 21:10 Lit son
Isaiah 21:11 As in LXX; MT Dumah, silence
Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
Isaiah 21:13 Or will spend
Isaiah 21:14 Lit to meet
Isaiah 21:16 Lit the years of a hired

2 Peter 2

New American Standard Bible

The Appearance of False Prophets

2 But ^(A)false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be ^(B)false teachers ^(C)among you, who will ^(D)secretly introduce ^(E)destructive heresies, even ^(F)denying the ^(G)Master who ^(H)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ²Many will follow their ^(I)indecent behavior, and because of them ^(J)the way of the truth will be ^(K)maligned; ³and in their ^(L)greed they will ^(M)exploit you with ^(N)false words; ^(O)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴For ^(P)if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into ^[a]hell and ^(Q)committed them to ^[b]pits of darkness, held for judgment; ⁵and did not spare ^(R)the ancient world, but protected ^(S)Noah, a ^[c]preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a ^(T)flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶and if He ^(U)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an ^(V)example ^[d]of what is coming for the ^(W)ungodly; ⁷and if He ^(X)rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the ^(Y)perverted conduct of ^[e]^(Z)unscrupulous people ⁸(for by what he saw and heard that ^(AA)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), ⁹^(AB)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from ^[f]a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the ^(AC)day of judgment, ¹⁰and especially those who ^[g]^(AD)indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and ^(AE)despise ^[h]authority.

^[i]Reckless, ^(AF)self-centered, they ^(AG)speak abusively of angelic ^[j]majesties without trembling, ¹¹^(AH)whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a demeaning judgment against them before the Lord. ¹²But ^(AI)these, like unreasoning animals, ^(AJ)born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in ^[k]the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, ¹³suffering wrong as ^(AK)the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to ^(AL)revel in the ^(AM)daytime. They are stains and blemishes, ^(AN)reveling in their ^[l]deceptions as they ^(AO)feast with you, ¹⁴having eyes full of adultery ^[m]that never cease from sin, ^(AP)enticing ^(AQ)unstable souls, having hearts trained in ^(AR)greed, ^(AS)accursed children; ¹⁵abandoning ^(AT)the right way, they have gone astray, having followed ^(AU)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(AV)the ^[n]reward of unrighteousness; ¹⁶but he received a rebuke for his own offense, ^(AW)for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.

¹⁷These are ^(AX)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, ^(AY)for whom the ^[o]black darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸For, while speaking out ^(AZ)arrogant words of no ^(BA)value they ^(BB)entice by fleshly desires, by ^(BC)indecent behavior, those who barely ^(BD)escape from the ones who live in error, ¹⁹promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for ^(BE)by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved. ²⁰For if, after they have ^(BF)escaped the defilements of the world by ^(BG)the knowledge of the ^(BH)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again ^(BI)entangled in them and are overcome, ^(BJ)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹^(BK)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from ^(BL)the holy commandment ^(BM)handed on to them. ²²^[p]It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “^(BN)A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”