Isaiah 21:1-10

New International Reader's Version

An attack is coming through the desert.
    It is coming from a land of terror.
    It’s sweeping along like a windstorm blowing across the Negev Desert.

² I have seen a vision about something terrible that will happen.
    People are turning against Babylon.
    Robbers are taking its goods.
Elamites, attack the city! Medes, surround it!
    The Lord will put an end to all the suffering Babylon has caused.

³ The vision fills my body with pain.
    Pains take hold of me.
    They are like the pains of a woman having a baby.
I am shaken by what I hear.
    I’m terrified by what I see.
⁴ My heart grows weak.
    Fear makes me tremble.
I longed for evening to come.
    But it brought me horror instead of rest.

⁵ In my vision the Babylonians set the tables.
    They spread out the rugs.
    They eat and drink.
Get up, you officers!
    Rub your shields with oil!

“Go. Put a guard on duty on Jerusalem’s walls.
    Have him report what he sees.
⁷ Tell him to watch for chariots
    that are pulled by teams of horses.
Tell him to watch for men riding on donkeys or camels.
    Make sure he stays awake.
    Make sure he stays wide awake.”

“Day after day I stand here on the lookout tower.
    Every night I stay here on duty.
⁹ Look! Here comes a man in a chariot!
    It’s being pulled by a team of horses.
He’s calling out the news,
    ‘Babylon has fallen! It has fallen!
All the statues of its gods
    lie broken in pieces on the ground!’ ”

¹⁰ My people, you have been crushed
    like grain on a threshing floor.
But now I’m telling you the good news I’ve heard.
    It comes from the Lord who rules over all.
    He is the God of Israel.