Isaiah 21
21
A Prophecy Against Babylon
1#Isa 13:1; Jer 51:42The oracle of the desert of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the Negev pass through,
so it comes from the desert,
from a terrible land.
2#Isa 33:1; Ps 60:3 A grievous vision is declared to me;
the treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, O Elam. Lay siege, O Media.
All her sighing I have made to cease.
3#Isa 13:8; Ps 48:6 Therefore, my loins are filled with pain;
pangs have taken hold of me as the pangs of a woman who travails.
I am so perplexed at the hearing of it;
I am so dismayed at the seeing of it.
4My heart panted,
fearfulness overwhelmed me;
the night for which I longed
has turned into trembling for me.
5#Jer 51:39; 51:57 Prepare the table,
watch in the watchtower,
eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
and oil the shields.
6#2Ki 9:17–20For thus the Lord has said to me:
“Go, station a watchman;
let him declare what he sees.
7#Isa 21:9 When he sees chariots
with horsemen in pairs,
a chariot of donkeys,
and a chariot of camels,
then let him pay close attention,
very close attention.”
8Then the watchman called:
“O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime,
and I am stationed at my guard post every night.
9#Jer 51:8; Rev 14:8 Look, here comes a chariot of men,
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered and said,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon.
And all the graven images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground.”
10#Jer 51:33; Mic 4:13 O my threshed people and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel,
I have declared to you.
A Prophecy Against Edom
11#Ge 25:14; 1Ch 1:30The oracle of Dumah.
He calls to me out of Seir,
“Watchman, how far gone is the night?
Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
12The watchman says,
“The morning comes and also the night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
return again.”
A Prophecy Against Arabia
13#Jer 25:23–24; Ge 25:3The oracle about Arabia.
In the forest of Arabia you shall lodge,
O traveling companies of Dedanites.
14#Ge 25:15; Job 6:19 Bring water for the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema;
meet the fugitive with bread.
15For they fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
and from the bent bow,
and from the grievousness of war.
16#Ps 120:5; Isa 16:14For thus the Lord has said to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail. 17#Nu 23:19; Isa 1:20And the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished, for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.
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Isaiah 21: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Isaiah 21
21
A Message about Babylon
1This message came to me concerning Babylon—the desert by the sea#21:1 Hebrew concerning the desert by the sea.:
Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert,
like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.
2I see a terrifying vision:
I see the betrayer betraying,
the destroyer destroying.
Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes,
attack and lay siege.
I will make an end
to all the groaning Babylon caused.
3My stomach aches and burns with pain.
Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me,
like those of a woman in labor.
I grow faint when I hear what God is planning;
I am too afraid to look.
4My mind reels and my heart races.
I longed for evening to come,
but now I am terrified of the dark.
5Look! They are preparing a great feast.
They are spreading rugs for people to sit on.
Everyone is eating and drinking.
But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle.
You are being attacked!
6Meanwhile, the Lord said to me,
“Put a watchman on the city wall.
Let him shout out what he sees.
7He should look for chariots
drawn by pairs of horses,
and for riders on donkeys and camels.
Let the watchman be fully alert.”
8Then the watchman#21:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac version; Masoretic Text reads a lion. called out,
“Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord.
Night after night I have remained at my post.
9Now at last—look!
Here comes a man in a chariot
with a pair of horses!”
Then the watchman said,
“Babylon is fallen, fallen!
All the idols of Babylon
lie broken on the ground!”
10O my people, threshed and winnowed,
I have told you everything the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said,
everything the God of Israel has told me.
A Message about Edom
11This message came to me concerning Edom#21:11a Hebrew Dumah, which means “silence” or “stillness.” It is a wordplay on the word Edom.:
Someone from Edom#21:11b Hebrew Seir, another name for Edom. keeps calling to me,
“Watchman, how much longer until morning?
When will the night be over?”
12The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but night will soon return.
If you wish to ask again, then come back and ask.”
A Message about Arabia
13This message came to me concerning Arabia:
O caravans from Dedan,
hide in the deserts of Arabia.
14O people of Tema,
bring water to these thirsty people,
food to these weary refugees.
15They have fled from the sword,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
and the terrors of battle.
16The Lord said to me, “Within a year, counting each day,#21:16 Hebrew Within a year, as a servant bound by contract would count it. Some ancient manuscripts read Within three years, as in 16:14. all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17Only a few of its courageous archers will survive. I, the Lord, the God of Israel, have spoken!”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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