Isaiah 21:1-22:14

English Standard Version

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

21 The ^(A)oracle concerning the wilderness of ^(B)the sea.

^(C)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
²A stern vision is told to me;
    ^(D)the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O ^(E)Elam;
    lay siege, O ^(F)Media;
all the ^(G)sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    ^(H)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.
⁴My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
    ^(I)the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
⁵^(J)They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,^[a]
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    ^(K)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]
^(L)“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!”
^(M)And he answered,
    ^(N)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
^(O)and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
¹⁰O ^(P)my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

¹¹The ^(Q)oracle concerning ^(R)Dumah.

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

¹³The ^(V)oracle concerning ^(W)Arabia.

In the thickets in ^(X)Arabia you will lodge,
    O ^(Y)caravans of ^(Z)Dedanites.
¹⁴To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of ^(AA)Tema.
¹⁵For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.

¹⁶For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, ^(AB)according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of ^(AC)Kedar will come to an end. ¹⁷And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of ^(AD)Kedar will be few, ^(AE)for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

22 The ^(AF)oracle concerning ^(AG)the valley of vision.

What do you mean that you have gone up,
    all of you, to the housetops,
²you who are full of shoutings,
    tumultuous city, ^(AH)exultant town?
Your slain are ^(AI)not slain with the sword
    or dead in battle.
³^(AJ)All your leaders have fled together;
    without the bow they were captured.
All of you who were found were captured,
    though they had fled far away.
⁴Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
    ^(AK)let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
    concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

⁵^(AL)For the Lord God of hosts has ^(AM)a day
    of tumult and ^(AN)trampling and ^(AO)confusion
    in ^(AP)the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
    and a shouting to the mountains.
⁶And ^(AQ)Elam bore the quiver
    with chariots and horsemen,
    and ^(AR)Kir uncovered the shield.
⁷Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
    and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
⁸He has taken away ^(AS)the covering of Judah.

In that day you looked to ^(AT)the weapons of the House of the Forest, ⁹and you saw that ^(AU)the breaches of the city of David were many. ^(AV)You collected the waters of the lower pool, ¹⁰and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. ¹¹^(AW)You made a reservoir between ^(AX)the two walls for the water of ^(AY)the old pool. But ^(AZ)you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

¹²In that day ^(BA)the Lord God of hosts
    called for weeping and mourning,
    for ^(BB)baldness and ^(BC)wearing sackcloth;
¹³and behold, joy and gladness,
    killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
    eating flesh and drinking wine.
^(BD)“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”
¹⁴The Lord of hosts ^(BE)has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely ^(BF)this iniquity will not be atoned for you ^(BG)until you die,”
    says the Lord God of hosts.