Isaiah 21
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 21
The Defeat of Babylon[a]
1 An oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping over the Negeb,[b]
there comes from the desert,
from a land that inspires terror,
2 a harsh vision that is shown to me:
the traitor betrays
and the despoiler despoils.
Go forth, O Elam;[c]
lay siege, O Media.
I will bring to an end
all the pain she has inflicted.
3 Therefore, my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me
like those of a woman in labor.
I am so distraught that I cannot hear;
I am too frightened even to look.
4 My mind reels,
and I am overcome with dread;
the twilight I yearned for
has become horrifying to me.
5 They set the table;
they spread out the rugs;
they eat and they drink.
Rise up, O princes;
oil your shields.
6 For this is what the Lord has said to me:
Go forth and post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
7 If he should see cavalry,
horsemen riding in pairs,
men mounted on donkeys,
men mounted on camels,
instruct him to watch closely
and to listen diligently.
8 Then the lookout shouted,
“I stand on the watchtower, O Lord,
all day long,
and I remain stationed at my post
throughout the night.
9 Behold, here come the cavalry now,
horsemen riding in pairs.”
Then the Lord responded:
Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
have been smashed to the ground.
10 O my people,
you who have been trodden
upon the threshing floor,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
from the God of Israel,
I have proclaimed to you.
Edom
11 An oracle concerning Edom:
Someone is calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, when will the night end?
Watchman, when will it end?”
12 The watchman replies,
“Morning will come, and so will the night.
If you wish to ask, do so;
come back again.”
Arabia
13 An oracle concerning Arabia:
In the thickets of the desert you will encamp,
you caravans of Dedanites.
14 Bring water to the thirsty
and greet the fugitives with bread,
you inhabitants of the land of Tema.[d]
15 For they have fled from the sword,
from the sharp edge of the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the stress of battles.
16 For these are the words spoken to me by the Lord: Within a year, as a hired worker reckons time, all the glory of Kedar[e] will come to an end. 17 Hardly any of Kedar’s valiant warriors will be left, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 Proud Babylon has fallen. The reference is either to 710 B.C., when Babylon was attacked by the Assyrian, Sargon, who put down the rebellion of Merodach-baladan (see 2 Ki 20:10; Jer 39:1-8), or to its fall in 539 B.C. under the attack of Cyrus. Tradition has it that the city was taken by the allied Medes and Persians during the night, while the ruler and his men were feasting in the assurance that the walls were impregnable (v. 5; see Dan 5).
- Isaiah 21:1 The desert: the plain of Babylonia. The Negeb: the vast southern wilderness of Palestine.
- Isaiah 21:2 Elam: an ancient people dwelling in the area from which the Persians would come. For the Medes, see 13:17.
- Isaiah 21:14 Tema: an oasis in the northeastern Arabian peninsula.
- Isaiah 21:16 Kedar: a powerful tribe in southern Arabia.
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
以赛亚书 21
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
關於巴比倫的預言
21 關於海旁曠野的默示：
有敵人從曠野，從可怕之地而來，
好像南地的暴風猛烈掃過一般。
2 我被指示去看一個慘酷的異象：
那行詭詐的仍然行詭詐，那行破壞的仍然行破壞。
以攔哪，上去吧！瑪代啊，圍攻吧！
我要使一切歎息止住。
3 因此，我滿腰疼痛，
痛苦抓住我，好像產婦的痛苦一樣；
我絞痛彎腰至聽不見，我驚惶至看不到。
4 我的心迷糊，驚恐威嚇著我；
我所愛慕的黃昏，竟使我戰兢。
5 他們擺設筵席，鋪張地氈，又吃又喝。
領袖們，起來吧！用油抹淨盾牌。
6 因為主這樣對我說：
“你去設立守望的，叫他把所看見的報告出來。
7 他一看見騎兵一對一對而來，
又有驢隊和駱駝隊，
他就要留意，非常留意。”
8 後來，守望者（按照《馬索拉文本》，“守望者”作“獅子”；現參照《死海古卷》和敍利亞文古譯本翻譯）喊叫著說：
“主啊！我每日不斷站在守望樓上，
每夜立在我守望的崗位中。
9 看哪！有一隊騎兵來了，馬兵一對一對而來。”
又有人答話說：“傾倒了，巴比倫傾倒了！
它所有雕刻的神像都被打碎在地上了。”
10 我那被打的禾稼啊！我禾場上的穀啊！
我從萬軍之耶和華，以色列的 神那裡聽見的，
都告訴你們了。
關於以東的預言
11 關於以東（“以東”原文作“度瑪”，意即寂靜，在這裡暗示以東的困境的）默示：
有人從西珥呼叫我說：
“守望的啊！黑夜還有多長？
守望的啊！黑夜還有多長？”
12 守望的說：
“早晨到了，黑夜也會再來；
你們若要問，就儘管問；
也可以回頭再來問。”
關於阿拉伯的預言
13 關於阿拉伯的默示：
底但的商隊啊！
你們必在阿拉伯的森林中住宿。
14 提瑪地的居民哪！
要拿水來給那些口渴的，
拿餅來接待那些逃難的。
15 因為他們逃避了刀劍、
已出鞘的刀劍和上了弦的弓，
以及嚴重的戰禍。
16 主對我這樣說：“按照雇工的年數，一年之內，基達的一切光榮都必化為烏有。 17 弓箭手剩餘的人數，就是基達人的勇士，必定很少；這是耶和華以色列的 神說的。”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
