Isaiah 21
Common English Bible
Fallen, fallen is Babylon
21 An oracle about the wilderness near the sea.
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the arid southern plain,
it comes from the desert, from a fearsome land.
2 A harsh vision was proclaimed to me:
The betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
Put an end to all her groaning.
3 Therefore, I’m shaken to my core in anguish.
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I’m too bent over to hear,
too dismayed to see.
4 My heart pounds; convulsions overpower me.
He has turned my evening of pleasure into dread—
5 setting the table, spreading the cloth, eating, drinking.
“Arise, captains!
Polish the shields.”
6 The Lord said this to me:
“Go, post a lookout to report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots, pairs of horsemen,
donkey riders, camel riders,
he should listen carefully,
carefully, very carefully.”
8 Then the seer[a] called out:
“Upon a watchtower, Lord,
I’m standing all day;
and upon my observation post
I’m stationed throughout the night.
9 Here they come:
charioteers, pairs of horsemen!”
One spoke up and said,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
are shattered on the ground!”
10 Oh, my downtrodden people, threshed on my threshing floor,
what I heard from the Lord of heavenly forces,
the God of Israel, I reported to you.
A mysterious dialogue
11 An oracle about Dumah.[b]
Someone is calling to me from Seir:
“Guard, how long is the night?
Guard, how long is the night?”
12 The guard said,
“Morning has come, but it is still night.
If you must inquire, inquire;
come back again.”
13 An oracle about the desert.
In the woods, in the desert where you camp,
caravans of the Dedanites 14 meet the thirsty with water;
inhabitants of the land of Tema greet the refugees with bread.
15 They have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
and from the intensity of battle.
16 So the Lord said to me: Within a year, according to the number of years for which a laborer is hired, all the glory of Kedar will end; 17 there will be few Kedarite archers remaining. The Lord God of Israel has spoken.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:8 DSS (1QIsaa), Syr; MT a lion
- Isaiah 21:11 LXX Edom
Isaiah 21
New King James Version
The Fall of Babylon Proclaimed
21 The [a]burden against the Wilderness of the Sea.
As (A)whirlwinds in the South pass through,
So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
2 A distressing vision is declared to me;
(B)The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.
(C)Go up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease.
3 Therefore (D)my loins are filled with pain;
(E)Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor.
I was [b]distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.
4 My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
(F)The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.
5 (G)Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!
6 For thus has the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
Let him declare what he sees.”
7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen,
A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels,
And he listened earnestly with great care.
8 [c]Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord!
I stand continually on the (H)watchtower in the daytime;
I have sat at my post every night.
9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”
Then he answered and said,
(I)“Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And (J)all the carved images of her gods
He has broken to the ground.”
10 (K)Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor!
That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
I have declared to you.
Proclamation Against Edom
11 (L)The [d]burden against Dumah.
He calls to me out of (M)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;
Return! Come back!”
Proclamation Against Arabia
13 (N)The [e]burden against Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies (O)of Dedanites.
14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
With their bread they met him who fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
16 For thus the Lord has said to me: “Within a year, (P)according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of (Q)Kedar will fail; 17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 21:3 Lit. bowed
- Isaiah 21:8 DSS Then the observer cried, “My Lord!
- Isaiah 21:11 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 21:13 oracle, prophecy
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
