Isaiah 21:1-9

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Like storms that pass over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
² A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously,^(C)
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all her groaning.”

³ Therefore I am^[a] filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.^(D)
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
⁴ My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope^[b]
into sheer terror.^(E)
5 Prepare a table,^(F) and spread out a carpet!
Eat and drink!
Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!

⁶ For the Lord has said to me,
“Go, post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees riders—
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels—
he must pay close attention.”
⁸ Then the lookout^[c] reported,
“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day,^(G)
and I stay at my post all night.
⁹ Look, riders come—
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered, saying,
“Babylon has fallen,^(H) has fallen.
All the images of her gods
have been shattered on the ground.”^(I)