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Isaiah 21:5-12
English Standard Version
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!
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
let him announce what he sees.
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.”
8 Then 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.
9 And 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.”
10 O (G)my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
11 The (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?”
12 The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also (K)the night.
If you will inquire, (L)inquire;
come back again.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:5 Or they set the watchman
- Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion
Isaiah 21:5-12
New International Version
Isaiah 21:5-12
New International Version
5 They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink!(A)
Get up, you officers,
oil the shields!(B)
6 This is what the Lord says to me:
“Go, post a lookout(C)
and have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots(D)
with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
or riders on camels,(E)
let him be alert,
fully alert.”
8 And the lookout[a](F) shouted,
“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
every night I stay at my post.
9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot(G)
with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
‘Babylon(H) has fallen,(I) has fallen!
All the images of its gods(J)
lie shattered(K) on the ground!’”
10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,(L)
I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
from the God of Israel.
A Prophecy Against Edom
11 A prophecy against Dumah[b]:(M)
Someone calls to me from Seir,(N)
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
and come back yet again.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion
- Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.