Isaiah 21:1-10

International Children’s Bible

Disaster is coming from the desert.
    It is coming like wind blowing in the south.
    It is coming from a terrible country.
² I have seen a terrible vision.
    I see traitors turning against you.
    I see people taking your wealth.

Elam, attack the people!
    Media, surround the city and attack it!
    I will bring an end to the pain the city causes.

³ I saw those terrible things, and now I am in pain.
    My pains are like the pains of giving birth.
What I hear makes me very afraid.
    What I see causes me to shake with fear.
⁴ I am worried,
    and I am shaking with fear.
My pleasant evening
    has become a night of fear.

⁵ They set the table.
    They spread the rugs.
    They eat and drink!
Leaders, stand up.
    Prepare the shields for battle!

⁶ The Lord said to me,
“Go. Have a man be a lookout for the city.
    Have him report what he sees.
⁷ If he sees chariots and teams of horses,
    donkeys or camels,
he should pay very close attention.”

⁸ Then the lookout called out,
“My Master, each day I stand in the watchtower watching.
    Every night I have been on guard.
⁹ Look. I see a man coming in a chariot
    with a team of horses.”
The man gives back the answer,
    “Babylon has fallen. It has fallen!
All the statues of her gods
    lie broken on the ground.”

¹⁰ My people are crushed like grain on the threshing floor.
    My people, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord.
He is the Lord of heaven’s armies,
    the God of Israel.