Isaiah 21
World English Bible
21 The burden of the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land. 2 A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing. 3 Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see. 4 My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me. 5 They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield! 6 For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees. 7 When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.” 8 He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post. 9 Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
10 You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
11 The burden of Dumah.
One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” 12 The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again.”
13 The burden on Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, you caravans of Dedanites. 14 They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread. 15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle. 16 For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail, 17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
Isaiah 21
American Standard Version
21 The [a]burden of the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land. 2 A [b]grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous man dealeth treacherously, and the destroyer destroyeth. Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof [c]have I made to cease. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with anguish; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail: I am [d]pained so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see. 4 My heart [e]fluttereth, horror hath affrighted me; the twilight that I desired hath been turned into trembling unto me. 5 They prepare the table, they [f]set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman; let him declare what he seeth: 7 [g]and when he seeth [h]a troop, [i]horsemen in pairs, [j]a troop of asses, [k]a troop of camels, he shall hearken diligently with much heed. 8 And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward [l]whole nights; 9 and, behold, here [m]cometh a troop of men, [n]horsemen in pairs. And he answered and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.
10 O thou my threshing, and the [o]grain of my floor! that which I have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
11 The [p]burden of Dumah.
One calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, [q]what of the night? Watchman, [r]what of the night? 12 The watchman said, The morning [s]cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: [t]turn ye, come.
13 The [u]burden upon Arabia.
In the [v]forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye caravans of Dedanites. 14 Unto him that [w]was thirsty they brought water; [x]the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread. 15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. 16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail; 17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be few; for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 Or, oracle concerning
- Isaiah 21:2 Or, hard
- Isaiah 21:2 Or, will I make
- Isaiah 21:3 Hebrew bent.
- Isaiah 21:4 Hebrew wandereth.
- Isaiah 21:5 Or, spread the carpets
- Isaiah 21:7 Or, and he saw . . . and he hearkened
- Isaiah 21:7 Or, a chariot. Or, chariots
- Isaiah 21:7 Or, a pair of horsemen
- Isaiah 21:7 Or, a chariot. Or, chariots
- Isaiah 21:7 Or, a chariot. Or, chariots
- Isaiah 21:8 Or, every night
- Isaiah 21:9 Or, come chariots of men
- Isaiah 21:9 Or, a pair of horsemen
- Isaiah 21:10 Hebrew son.
- Isaiah 21:11 Or, oracle concerning
- Isaiah 21:11 Or, what hour
- Isaiah 21:11 Or, what hour
- Isaiah 21:12 Or, is come
- Isaiah 21:12 Or, come ye again
- Isaiah 21:13 Or, oracle
- Isaiah 21:13 Or, thickets
- Isaiah 21:14 Or, is thirsty bring ye
- Isaiah 21:14 Or, as otherwise read, ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, meet
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