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
International Standard Version
Elam and Media are Rebuked
21 A message[a] concerning the pasture[b] by the Sea.
“Like whirlwinds in the Negev[c] sweep on,
it comes from the desert,
from a distant[d] land.
2 A dire vision has been announced to me:
the traitor betrays,
and the plunderer takes loot.
Get up, Elam!
Attack, Media!
I am putting a stop
to all the groaning she has caused.
3 Therefore my body is[e] racked with pain;
pangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am so upset that I cannot hear;
I am so frightened that I cannot see
while I’m reeling around.[f]
4 And as for my heart,[g] horror has terrified me;
the twilight I longed for
has started to make me tremble.
5 They set the tables;
they spread the carpets;[h]
they eat, they drink!
Get up, you officers!
Oil the shields!”
The Fall of Babylon
6 For this is what the Lord told me:
“Go post a lookout.
Have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots, each man[i] with a pair of horses,
riders on donkeys or riders on[j] camels,
let him pay attention,
full attention.”
8 Then the lookout[k] shouted:
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and I am stationed at my post
throughout the night.
9 Look! Here come riders,[l]
each man with a pair of horses!”
They’re shouting out the answer:
“Babylon has fallen, has fallen,
and they have shattered
all the images of her gods[m] on the ground!
10 O my downtrodden people,[n] my wall![o]
I’ll tell you what I have heard
from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 Lit. An oracle
- Isaiah 21:1 Or plague; cf. Isa 5:17; 1King 8:37; Jer 14:12; MT LXX read wilderness
- Isaiah 21:1 I.e. southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Isaiah 21:1 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsaa corrector MT LXX read terrible
- Isaiah 21:3 Or waist; lit. my hips and lower back are
- Isaiah 21:3 So 1QIsaa 4QIsaa; MT LXX begin v. 4 with this line
- Isaiah 21:4 So 1QIsaa 4QIsaa; MT LXX read 4 My mind reels
- Isaiah 21:5 So 1QIsaa MT; LXX lacks this line
- Isaiah 21:7 So 1QIsaa 4QIsaa; cf. v. 9; MT LXX lack each man
- Isaiah 21:7 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads train of donkeys or train of
- Isaiah 21:8 So 1QIsaa Syr; MT reads Then a lion
- Isaiah 21:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads chariot; cf. v. 7
- Isaiah 21:9 So 1QIsaa; LXX reads all the images of her gods are shattered; MT reads He has shattered all the images of her gods
- Isaiah 21:10 1QIsaa lacks people
- Isaiah 21:10 So 1QIsaa; MT reads my threshing floor
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