Isaiah 21
Lexham English Bible
The Fall of Babylon
21 The oracle of the wilderness of the sea:
As storm winds passing over in the Negev,
it comes[a] from the desert,
from a frightful land.
2 A hard revelation is told to me;
the treacherous deals treacherously,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam;
lay siege, Media!
I put an end to all of her sighing.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth.
I am too bent to hear,[b]
I am too dismayed to see.[c]
4 My mind[d] staggers; fear terrifies me;
the twilight I desired[e] brought[f] me fear.
5 Set out the table in order!
Spread out the rugs![g]
Eat! drink!
Rise up, commanders;
smear[h] the shield!
6 For the Lord said this to me:
“Go, set a watchman in position.
He must announce what he sees.
7 When[i] he sees riders,[j]
a pair of horsemen,
riders[k] of donkeys,[l]
riders[m] of camels,[n]
then[o] he must listen attentively,
paying attention, paying special[p] attention.”
8 Then[q] the watchman[r] called,
“Lord, I am standing on the watchtower continually by day,
and I am standing at my post throughout[s] the night.
9 And look at this! A man’s a chariot is coming,
a pair of horsemen!”
Then[t] he responded and said,
“It has fallen! Babylon has fallen!
And all the images of her gods are[u] smashed on the ground!”
10 My downtrodden people
and the son of my threshing floor,
I will announce to you what I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel.
Oracle regarding Dumah
11 The oracle of Dumah:
One is calling to me from Seir,
12 The watchman says,
“Morning comes,
and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.”[x]
Oracle against Arabia
13 An oracle concerning[y] Arabia:
You will spend the night in the thicket in a desert-plateau,[z]
caravans of Dedanites.
14 When you happen to meet[aa] the thirsty, bring water.
Inhabitants of the land of Tema came to meet the fugitive with his bread.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword and the bent bow,
and from the heaviness of the battle.
16 For the Lord said this to me:
“In one more year,[ab] like the years of a hired worker,
all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
17 And the remainder of the number of the bows[ac] of the warriors of the sons of Kedar will be few.”
For Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 Literally “to come”
- Isaiah 21:3 Literally “bent from hearing,” which could also mean “bent because of what I heard”
- Isaiah 21:3 Literally “dismayed from seeing,” which could also mean “dismayed because of what I saw”
- Isaiah 21:4 Literally “heart”
- Isaiah 21:4 Literally “of my desire”
- Isaiah 21:4 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 21:5 Hebrew “rug”
- Isaiah 21:5 That is, prepare with oil
- Isaiah 21:7 Or “And”
- Isaiah 21:7 Hebrew “rider”
- Isaiah 21:7 Hebrew “rider”
- Isaiah 21:7 Hebrew “donkey”
- Isaiah 21:7 Hebrew “rider”
- Isaiah 21:7 Hebrew “camel”
- Isaiah 21:7 Or “and”
- Isaiah 21:7 Literally “much”
- Isaiah 21:8 Or “And”
- Isaiah 21:8 Literally “lion”
- Isaiah 21:8 Literally “all of”
- Isaiah 21:9 Or “and”
- Isaiah 21:9 Hebrew “is”
- Isaiah 21:11 Literally “from”
- Isaiah 21:11 Literally “from”
- Isaiah 21:12 Literally “return come”
- Isaiah 21:13 Literally “in”
- Isaiah 21:13 The Hebrew for “in a desert-plateau” is the same as for “concerning Arabia” in the preceding line
- Isaiah 21:14 Literally “Toward encountering”
- Isaiah 21:16 Literally “In yet a year”
- Isaiah 21:17 Hebrew “bow”
Isaiah 21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Oracles concerning Babylon, Edom, and Arabia
21 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the desert,
from a terrible land.(A)
2 A stern vision is told to me;
the betrayer betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam;
lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.(B)
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.(C)
4 My mind reels; horror has appalled me;
the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.(D)
5 They prepare the table;
they spread the rugs;
they eat; they drink.
Rise up, commanders;
oil the shield!(E)
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, post a lookout;
let him announce what he sees.
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him watch closely,
very closely.”(F)
8 Then the watcher[a] called out:
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
throughout the night.(G)
9 Look, there they come, riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
Then he responded,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground.”(H)
10 O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.(I)
11 The oracle concerning Dumah.
One is calling to me from Seir,
“Sentinel, what of the night?
Sentinel, what of the night?”(J)
12 The sentinel says:
“Morning comes and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.”
13 The oracle concerning the desert plain.
In the scrub of the desert plain you will lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.(K)
14 Bring water to the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema;
meet the fugitive with bread.(L)
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the stress of battle.(M)
16 For thus the Lord said to me: “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end,(N) 17 and the remaining bows of Kedar’s warriors will be few, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”(O)
Footnotes
- 21.8 Q ms Syr Vg: MT a lion
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.