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
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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