Isaiah 21
Jubilee Bible 2000
21 ¶ The burden of the desert of the sea. As the whirlwinds which pass through the wilderness in the land of the south, so they come from the terrible land.
2 A grievous vision is shown unto me. For one who is treacherous, another who deals treacherously, and for one destroyer, another destroyer. Rise up, Elam; besiege Media; all the sighing thereof I have made to cease.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pangs have taken hold upon me as the pangs of a woman that travails; I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
4 My heart panted; the horror frightened me; the night of my pleasure he has turned into fear unto me.
5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink; arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
6 For thus has the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman who shall declare what he sees.
7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; then he looked with more diligence;
8 and he cried, A lion upon the watchman. My lord, I stand continually all the day and all night long upon my watchtower.
9 And, behold, this chariot of men comes with a couple of horsemen. Afterwards he spoke and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he has broken unto the ground.
10 O my harvest, and the people of my threshing floor, that which I have heard of the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you.
11 ¶ The burden of Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of this night? Watchman, what of this night?
12 The watchman said, The morning comes and then the night; if ye will enquire, enquire ye; return, and come.
13 ¶ The burden upon Arabia. In the forest ye shall pass the night in Arabia, O ye walkers of Dedanim.
14 Go ye out to meet them bringing water for the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of Tema; succour those who are fleeing with your bread.
15 For they flee from the presence of the sword, from the presence of the drawn sword, from the presence of the bent bow, from the presence of the grievousness of the battle.
16 For thus has the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall be undone:
17 And the residue of the number of valiant archers, sons of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel has spoken it.
Isaiah 21
Holman Christian Standard Bible
A Judgment on Babylon
21 An oracle(A) against the desert by the sea:(B)
Like storms that pass over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
2 A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously,(C)
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all her groaning.”
3 Therefore I am[a] filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.(D)
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
4 My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope[b]
into sheer terror.(E)
5 Prepare a table,(F) and spread out a carpet!
Eat and drink!
Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!
6 For the Lord has said to me,
“Go, post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
7 When he sees riders—
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels—
he must pay close attention.”
8 Then the lookout[c] reported,
“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day,(G)
and I stay at my post all night.
9 Look, riders come—
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered, saying,
“Babylon has fallen,(H) has fallen.
All the images of her gods
have been shattered on the ground.”(I)
10 My people who have been crushed
on the threshing floor,(J)
I have declared to you
what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel.
An Oracle against Dumah
11 An oracle(K) against Dumah:[d](L)
One calls to me from Seir,(M)
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman said,
“Morning has come, and also night.
If you want to ask, ask!
Come back again.”
An Oracle against Arabia
13 An oracle against Arabia:(N)
In the desert[e] brush
you will camp for the night,
you caravans of Dedanites.(O)
14 Bring water for the thirsty.
The inhabitants of the land of Tema(P)
meet[f] the refugees with food.
15 For they have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bow that is strung,
and from the stress of battle.
16 For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year,(Q) as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar(R) will be gone. 17 The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:3 Lit Therefore my loins are
- Isaiah 21:4 Lit my twilight
- Isaiah 21:8 DSS, Syr; MT reads Then a lion
- Isaiah 21:11 Some Hb mss, LXX read Edom
- Isaiah 21:13 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read desert at evening
- Isaiah 21:14 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read meet as a command
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
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
