Isaiah 21:5-12

English Standard Version

⁵^(A)They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,^[a]
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    ^(B)oil the shield!
⁶For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
    let him announce what he sees.
⁷When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
    very diligently.”
⁸Then he who saw cried out:^[b]
^(C)“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
    continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
    whole nights.
⁹And behold, here come riders,
    horsemen in pairs!”
^(D)And he answered,
    ^(E)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
^(F)and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
¹⁰O ^(G)my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

¹¹The ^(H)oracle concerning ^(I)Dumah.

One is calling to me from ^(J)Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
¹²The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also ^(K)the night.
    If you will inquire, ^(L)inquire;
    come back again.”