Isaiah 21
21
1A message about the desert by the sea.#21:1. “Desert by the sea,” usually taken to refer to Babylon. Although there is no literal sea nearby, the large Euphrates River can be referred to as a “sea” in the same way the Nile is described in 18:2, 19:5. Like storm winds passing through the Negev, something is coming from the desert, from a land of terror— 2a horrifying vision that has been explained to me. The betrayer still betrays; the destroyer still destroys. Elamites and Medes, go ahead, attack and lay siege to Babylon,#21:2. “Babylon”: supplied for clarity. for I'm putting a stop to all the pain it has caused.#21:2. “All the pain it has caused”: literally, “all its sighing.”
3As a result my body is filled with agony. I'm overwhelmed with pain, like the pain of a woman giving birth. I am confused by what I hear; I am distressed by what I see. 4My mind falters; I shake in panic. The night I looked forward to has become terrifying.
5They set the table, they spread out the rugs, they eat and drink…
“Get up, officers! Prepare your shields for battle!”
6This is what the Lord told me: “Go! Have a lookout keep watch, and make sure he reports what he sees. 7When he sees chariots coming pulled by pairs of horses, riders on donkeys and on camels, he should watch very carefully, paying close attention.”
8Then the lookout#21:8. Dead Sea Scroll reading. Hebrew text, “lion.” shouted “Sir, I've stood here on the watchtower day after day; night after night I've remained at my post. 9Now look! A man in a chariot with a pair of horses is coming.”
Then he said, “Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the idols of its gods lie smashed on the ground!”
10My poor downtrodden people, so badly mistreated, I have told you what I have heard from the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel.
11A message about Edom.#21:11. The word used here actually means silence, and is a play on words with the actual name of the country of Edom. This is how the Septuagint interprets it. A voice is calling to me from Seir, asking, “Watchman, what time of night is it? Watchman, what time of night is it?”
12The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but the night is coming again soon. If you want to ask again, then come back and ask.”
13A message about Arabia. Caravans from Dedan, spend the night in the bushes. 14People of Tema, take water to the thirsty, meet the refugees with food. 15They're running away from a fierce battle, from swords, drawn swords, from bows and arrows.
16This is what the Lord told me: “Within one year, just as a contract worker precisely counts years, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. 17There will only be a few left of the archers, the warriors of Kedar.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
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Isaiah 21: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 21
21
The Fall of Babylon Proclaimed
1The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea.
As #Zech. 9:14whirlwinds in the South pass through,
So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
2A distressing vision is declared to me;
#Is. 33:1The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.
#Is. 13:17; 22:6; Jer. 49:34Go up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease.
3Therefore #Is. 15:5; 16:11my loins are filled with pain;
#Is. 13:8Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor.
I was distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.
4My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
#Deut. 28:67The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.
5#Jer. 51:39; Dan. 5:5Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!
6For thus has the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
Let him declare what he sees.”
7And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen,
A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels,
And he listened earnestly with great care.
8Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord!
I stand continually on the #Hab. 2:1watchtower in the daytime;
I have sat at my post every night.
9And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”
Then he answered and said,
#Is. 13:19; 47:5, 9; 48:14; Jer. 51:8; Dan. 5:28, 31; Rev. 14:8; 18:2“Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And #Is. 46:1; Jer. 50:2; 51:44all the carved images of her gods
He has broken to the ground.”
10#Jer. 51:33; Mic. 4:13Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor!
That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
I have declared to you.
Proclamation Against Edom
11#Gen. 25:14; 1 Chr. 1:30; Josh. 15:52The burden against Dumah.
He calls to me out of #Gen. 32:3; Jer. 49:7; Ezek. 35:2; Obad. 1Seir,
“Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?”
12The watchman said,
“The morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
Return! Come back!”
Proclamation Against Arabia
13#Jer. 25:24; 49:28The burden against Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies #Gen. 10:7; 1 Chr. 1:9, 32; Jer. 25:23; Ezek. 27:15of Dedanites.
14O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
With their bread they met him who fled.
15For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
16For thus the Lord has said to me: “Within a year, #Is. 16:14according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of #Ps. 120:5; Song 1:5; Is. 42:11; 60:7; Ezek. 27:21Kedar will fail; 17and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.