Isaiah 21
21
1The burden of the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land. 2A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing. 3Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see. 4My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me. 5They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield! 6For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees. 7When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.” 8He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post. 9Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
10You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
11The burden of Dumah.
One calls to me out of Seir, “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. Come back again.”
13The burden on Arabia.
You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you caravans of Dedanites. 14They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread. 15For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle. 16For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail, 17and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
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Isaiah 21
21
A Judgment on Babylon
1A pronouncement#Is 13:1 concerning the desert by the sea:#Is 13:20–22; 14:23; 21:9; Jr 51:41–44
Like storms that pass over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
2A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously,#Is 24:16; 33:1
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning.”
3Therefore I am#21:3 Lit my waist is, or my insides are filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.#Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; 16:11; 26:17–18; Jr 4:31; 6:24; 22:23; 30:6; 50:43; Mc 4:9–10; 1Th 5:3
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
4My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope#21:4 Lit my twilight
into sheer terror.#Dt 28:67
5Prepare a table,#Jr 51:39,57; Dn 5:1–4 and spread out a carpet!
Eat and drink!
Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!
6For the Lord has said to me,
“Go, post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
7When he sees riders —
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels —
he must pay close attention.”
8Then the lookout#21:8 DSS, Syr; MT reads Then a lion reported,
“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day,#Hab 2:1
and I stay at my post all night.
9Look, riders come —
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered, saying,
“Babylon has fallen,#2Sm 1:19; Is 3:8; 14:12; Jr 51:8; Ezk 32:22; Rv 14:8; 18:2 has fallen.
All the images of her gods
have been shattered on the ground.”#Is 46:1; Jr 50:2; 51:44
10My people who have been crushed
on the threshing floor,#Jr 51:33; Mc 4:13
I have declared to you
what I have heard from the Lord of Armies,
the God of Israel.
A Pronouncement against Dumah
11A pronouncement#Is 21:1 concerning Dumah:#21:11 Some Hb mss, LXX read Edom#Gn 25:14
One calls to me from Seir,#Dt 2:8; Ezk 35:2
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12The watchman said,
“Morning has come, and also night.
If you want to ask, ask!
Come back again.”
A Pronouncement against Arabia
13A pronouncement concerning Arabia:#Jr 25:23–24; 49:28
In the desert#21:13 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read desert at evening brush
you will camp for the night,
you caravans of Dedanites.#Gn 10:7; Jr 25:23; 49:8; Ezk 27:15
14Bring water for the thirsty.
The inhabitants of the land of Tema#Gn 25:15; Jb 6:19
meet#21:14 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read meet as a command the refugees with food.
15For they have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bow that is strung,
and from the stress of battle.
16For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year,#Is 16:14 as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar#Ps 120:5; Sg 1:5; Is 42:11; 60:7; Jr 2:10; Ezk 27:21 will be gone. 17The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
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