Isaiah 21:1-10

New American Standard Bible 1995

As ^(C)windstorms in the ^[c]Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
² A ^(D)harsh vision has been shown 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 ^[e]mind reels, ^[f]horror overwhelms 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, captains, oil the shields,”

“Go, station the lookout, let him ^(K)report what he sees.
⁷ “When he sees ^(L)riders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

“^(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 said, “^(N)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the ^(O)images of her gods ^[i]are shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰ O my ^(P)threshed people, and my ^[j]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.