Isaiah 21:1-10
New English Translation
The Lord Will Judge Babylon
21 This is an oracle[a] about the wilderness by the Sea:[b]
Like strong winds blowing in the south,[c]
one invades from the wilderness,
from a land that is feared.
2 I have received a distressing message:[d]
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning.”[e]
3 For this reason my stomach churns;[f]
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed[g] by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
4 My heart palpitates,[h]
I shake in fear;[i]
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
5 Arrange the table,
lay out[j] the carpet,
eat and drink![k]
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields![l]
6 For this is what the Lord[m] has told me:
“Go, post a guard!
He must report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses,[n]
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
8 Then the guard[o] cries out:
“On the watchtower, O Lord,[p]
I stand all day long;
at my post
I am stationed every night.
9 Look what’s coming!
A charioteer,
a team of horses.”[q]
When questioned, he replies,[r]
“Babylon has fallen, fallen!
All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor,[s]
what I have heard
from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel,
I have reported to you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 tn See note at Isa 13:1.
- Isaiah 21:1 sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “wilderness” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like an uninhabited wilderness.
- Isaiah 21:1 tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).
- Isaiah 21:2 tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
- Isaiah 21:2 sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
- Isaiah 21:3 tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”
- Isaiah 21:3 tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”
- Isaiah 21:4 tn Heb “wanders”; perhaps here, “is confused.”
- Isaiah 21:4 tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”
- Isaiah 21:5 tn The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. KJV “watch in the watchtower”; ASV “set the watch”).
- Isaiah 21:5 tn The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.
- Isaiah 21:5 sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.
- Isaiah 21:6 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Isaiah 21:7 tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”
- Isaiah 21:8 tn The Hebrew text has, “the lion,” but this makes little sense here. אַרְיֵה (ʾaryeh, “lion”) probably needs to be emended to an original הָרֹאֶה (haroʾeh, “the one who sees”), i.e., the guard mentioned previously in v. 6. The Dead Sea Scrolls (1Q Isaa) and the Syriac support an original הָרֹאֶה (haroʾeh, “the one who sees”).
- Isaiah 21:8 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay). Some translations take this to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV), while others take it to refer to the guard’s human master (“my lord”; cf. NIV, NLT).
- Isaiah 21:9 tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”
- Isaiah 21:9 tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).
- Isaiah 21:10 tn Heb “My trampled one, and the son of the threshing floor.”
Isaiah 21:1-10
Common English Bible
Fallen, fallen is Babylon
21 An oracle about the wilderness near the sea.
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the arid southern plain,
it comes from the desert, from a fearsome land.
2 A harsh vision was proclaimed to me:
The betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
Put an end to all her groaning.
3 Therefore, I’m shaken to my core in anguish.
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I’m too bent over to hear,
too dismayed to see.
4 My heart pounds; convulsions overpower me.
He has turned my evening of pleasure into dread—
5 setting the table, spreading the cloth, eating, drinking.
“Arise, captains!
Polish the shields.”
6 The Lord said this to me:
“Go, post a lookout to report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots, pairs of horsemen,
donkey riders, camel riders,
he should listen carefully,
carefully, very carefully.”
8 Then the seer[a] called out:
“Upon a watchtower, Lord,
I’m standing all day;
and upon my observation post
I’m stationed throughout the night.
9 Here they come:
charioteers, pairs of horsemen!”
One spoke up and said,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
are shattered on the ground!”
10 Oh, my downtrodden people, threshed on my threshing floor,
what I heard from the Lord of heavenly forces,
the God of Israel, I reported to you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:8 DSS (1QIsaa), Syr; MT a lion
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