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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Military Bible Association
Isaiah 21
21
God Commands That Babylon Be Taken
1The [mournful, inspired] oracle (#I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the #Probably a reference to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and their tributaries which overflowed their banks like a sea. Great dams were constructed to control their floodwaters.Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):
As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,
So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.
2A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end.
3Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth;
I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.
4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been #The vision reveals the events to occur at the feast of Belshazzar—the defilement of the golden articles taken from God’s temple, the handwriting on the wall, the murder of Babylon’s great king.turned into fear and trembling for me.
5They set the table [for the doomed banquet], they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains [of Belshazzar’s court], oil your shields [for battle, for your enemy is at the gates]!”
6This is what the Lord says to me,
“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
7When he sees a chariot, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys and a train of camels,
Let him pay attention and listen closely, very closely.”
8And the lookout called like a lion,
“O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower by day,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”
10O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].
Oracles about Edom and Arabia
11The [mournful, inspired] oracle (#I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.a burden to be carried) concerning Dumah (Edom):
Someone keeps calling to me from Seir (Edom),
“Watchman, what is left of the night [of Assyrian oppression]?
Watchman, what is left of the night? [How long until morning?]”
12The watchman says,
“The morning comes [only briefly], but also [comes] the night [of Babylonian oppression].
If you would ask [of me then], ask [again, if Edom really wishes to know];
Come back again.”
13The [mournful, inspired] oracle (#I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.a burden to be carried) concerning Arabia:
In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
Caravans of Dedanites.
14Bring water for the thirsty [Dedanites],
O inhabitants of the land of Tema [in Arabia];
Meet the fugitive with bread.
15For they have fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, from the bent bow
And from the press of battle and grief of war.
16For the Lord has said this to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end; 17and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
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