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Here he comes—
    a single chariot,
    a pair of horses—
He calls out and says,
    ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon!
All the images of her gods
    are smashed to the ground!’”(A)
10 To you, who have been threshed,
    beaten on my threshing floor,
What I have heard
    from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
    I have announced to you.(B)

Dumah

11     Oracle on Dumah:[a]
They call to me from Seir,
    “Watchman, how much longer the night?
    Watchman, how much longer the night?”

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Footnotes

  1. 21:11–12 Dumah: an oasis in north Arabia (cf. Gn 25:14 and 1 Chr 1:30), may be identified with the north Arabian Adummatu mentioned in Assyrian records of Sennacherib’s campaign against north Arabia. Seir: a site in Edom. The Edomites ask the prophet how much longer they must suffer (“the night” of suffering); he answers ambiguously: “Liberation (“morning”) and further suffering (“night”),” but perhaps they will later receive a more encouraging answer (“ask; come back again”).

Look, here comes a man in a chariot(A)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon(B) has fallen,(C) has fallen!
All the images of its gods(D)
    lie shattered(E) on the ground!’”

10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,(F)
    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[a]:(G)

Someone calls to me from Seir,(H)
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.