Isaiah 21:1-10
Legacy Standard Bible
Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
21 The [a](A)oracle concerning the [b](B)wilderness of the sea.
As (C)whirlwinds in the [c]Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a fearsome land.
2 A (D)harsh vision has been declared to me;
The (E)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, (F)Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all [d]the groaning she has caused.
3 For this reason my (G)loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a (H)woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
4 My heart [e]reels; [f]horror terrorizes me;
The twilight I longed for has been (I)turned for me into trembling.
5 They (J)set the table, they [g]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, commanders, oil the shields,”
6 For thus the Lord says to me,
“Go, station the lookout, let him (K)declare what he sees.
7 Indeed, he shall see (L)riders, horsemen in pairs,
Riders of donkeys, riders of camels,
So let him pay close attention, very close attention.”
8 Then [h]the lookout called,
“(M)O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9 Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one answered and said, “(N)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the (O)graven images of her gods [i]are shattered on the ground.”
10 O my (P)trampled people and my [j]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from Yahweh of hosts,
The God of Israel, I have declared to you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 Or burden of
- Isaiah 21:1 Or sandy wastes, sea country
- Isaiah 21:1 South country
- Isaiah 21:2 Lit her groaning
- Isaiah 21:4 Lit wandered
- Isaiah 21:4 Lit shuddering
- Isaiah 21:5 Or spread out the rugs; or possibly they arranged the seating
- Isaiah 21:8 As in DSS; M.T. he called like a lion
- Isaiah 21:9 Lit he has shattered to the earth
- Isaiah 21:10 Lit son
Isaiah 21:1-10
Christian Standard Bible
A Judgment on Babylon
21 A pronouncement(A) concerning 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 the 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 Armies,
the God of Israel.
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