Isaiah 21
GOD’S WORD Translation
Babylon Has Fallen
21 This is the divine revelation about the desert by the sea.
Like a storm sweeping through the Negev,
an invader will come from the desert,
from a terrifying land.
2 I was shown a harsh vision.
The traitor betrays.
The destroyer destroys.
Go to war, Elam!
Surround them, Media!
I will put an end to all the groaning.
3 That is why my body is full of trembling.
Pain grips me like the pain of childbirth.
I’m disturbed by what I hear.
I’m terrified by what I see.
4 I’m confused.
I’m shaking with terror.
The twilight hours I longed for make me tremble.
5 Set the table.
Spread the rugs ⌞by the table⌟.
Eat. Drink.
Get up, you leaders!
Prepare your shields for battle!
6 This is what the Lord says to me:
Post a watchman.
Have him report whatever he sees.
7 He will see chariots, pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys, and riders on camels.
Let him watch carefully, very carefully.
8 The watchman [a] called,
“Sir, I stand on the watchtower every day.
Every night, I stand guard at my post.
9 Look! Here come chariots and horsemen in pairs.”
Then he said,
“Babylon has fallen! It has fallen!
All the idols they worship lie shattered on the ground.”
10 You, my people, have been threshed and winnowed.[b]
I make known to you what I heard from the Lord of Armies,
the God of Israel.
Someone Calling from Seir
11 This is the divine revelation about Dumah.[c]
Someone is calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, how much of the night is left?
Watchman, how much of the night is left?”
12 The watchman answers,
“Morning is coming, and night will come again.
If you need to ask, come back and ask.”
Arabia Will Be Punished
13 This is the divine revelation about Arabia.
You caravan of travelers from the people of Dedan
will spend the night in the forest of Arabia.
14 Bring water for the thirsty,
you inhabitants of the land of Tema.
Bring food to the fugitives.
15 They flee from swords,
from swords ready to kill,
from bows ready to shoot,
and from the thick of battle.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: All of Kedar’s honor will be gone in another year. I will count it like workers count the years left on their contracts. 17 The remaining number of archers, Kedar’s mighty archers, will be few. The Lord God of Israel has spoken.
Isaiah 21
Revised Standard Version Catholic 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.
2 A stern vision is told to me;
the plunderer plunders,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam,
lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in travail;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear,
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
4 My mind reels, horror has appalled me;
the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
5 They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes,
oil the shield!
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
let him announce what he sees.
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on asses, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.”
8 Then he who saw[a] cried:
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
9 And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
And he answered,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
and all the images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10 O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
11 The oracle concerning Dumah.
One is calling to me from Se′ir,
“Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?”
12 The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.”
13 The oracle concerning Arabia.
In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
O caravans of De′danites.
14 To the thirsty bring water,
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.
16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end; 17 and the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:8 One ancient Ms: Heb a lion
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.