Isaiah 21
21
Chapter 21
A message about Babylon
1This is a message about the desert near the sea.
Trouble is coming from the desert, like a strong wind that blows from the south. It comes from a land of great fear.
2The Lord showed me a vision of terrible things.
‘People are deceiving one another!
People are destroying one another!
Elam, go to attack Babylon!
People from Media, attack all round the city!
I will stop all the tears that Babylon's armies have caused.’
3Because of that vision, I am very upset. Bad pains attack me, like the pains of a woman who is giving birth. My body hurts because of the things that I have heard. I am afraid to look! 4It confuses my mind. I shake with fear. I wanted a quiet evening, but instead there is terror.
5Look! They are preparing a feast. They put down carpets for people to sit on. They are eating and they are drinking. Officers, stand up! Make your shields ready for battle!
6This is what the Lord God has said to me:
‘Go! Put someone on the city wall to watch.
Tell him to report what he sees.
7If he sees chariots that two horses are pulling,
or riders on donkeys,
or riders on camels,
he must watch very carefully.’
8Then the guard shouted, ‘Lord God, I am standing every day on the tower where I watch. I stand at my place every night. 9And look! Something is coming! It is a chariot that two horses are pulling!’ The rider reports, ‘An enemy has completely destroyed Babylon! All the idols of its people's gods lie in pieces on the ground!’
10Yes, my people, Babylon's army has hurt you very much. But now I have reported to you the message from the Lord Almighty, Israel's God.
A message about Edom
11This is a message about Dumah.
Someone is shouting to me from Seir. #21:11 Dumah and Seir are other names for Edom. They are asking, ‘Guard, how soon will the night finish? Please tell me.’
12The guard replies, ‘The morning will come soon. But the night will quickly follow. If you want to ask again, then come back. Come and ask!’
A message about Arabia
13This is a message about Arabia.
Traders from Dedan, you put up your tents in Arabia's wilderness. 14You must bring some water for the thirsty people to drink. You people who live in Tema, bring food to give to the hungry people who are running away from danger. #21:14 Dedan and Tema were towns in Arabia. 15They are running away from the weapons of war. They are running from the swords, bows and arrows of a dangerous battle.
16This is what the Lord God has said to me: ‘In one year's time, all Kedar's glory will have gone. Count every day, as if you are working to receive money. 17Only a few of Kedar's brave soldiers will remain, with their bows and arrows.’
That is what the Lord, Israel's God, has said.
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Isaiah 21
21
XXI
1THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE DESERT OF THE SEA.
Like the southern tempests violently rushing along,
From the desert he cometh, from a terrible land.
2A dreadful vision hath been revealed unto me:
The plunderer plundereth, and the spoiler spoileth!
Go up, O Elam; form the siege, O Media!
All her sighing have I made to cease.
3Therefore are my loins filled with dreadful pain;
Pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail:
I am convulsed, so that I cannot hear; I am astonished, so that I cannot see.
4My heart is bewildered; terror hath come upon me:
The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
5The table is prepared, the watch is set; they eat, they drink;
Arise, ye princes; anoint the shield.
6For thus hath the Lord said unto me:
Go, set a watchman on his station;
What he shall see, he shall report.
7And he beheld riders, a couple of horsemen,
Riders on asses, riders on camels:
And he hearkened diligently with much heed.
8Then he cried out like a lion:
O my lord, I keep my station on the watch all the day long;
And on my ward have I continued every night.
9And, behold, there come men riding, a couple of horsemen.
Then he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen;
And all the sculptured images of her gods have they broken in pieces against the ground.
10O my threshing, and the corn of my floor!
What I have heard of Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel,
That I have declared unto you.
11THE ORACLE CONCERNING DOMAH.
A voice crieth unto me from Seir:
Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?
12The watchman said;
The morning cometh, and also the night.
If ye will inquire, inquire ye: come again and again.
13THE ORACLE AGAINST ARABIA.
In the thickets of Arabia shall ye lodge,
O ye travelling companies of Dedan!
14To meet the thirsty they brought water,
They the inhabitants of the land of Tema;
With his bread they approached the wanderer.
15For from the face of the sword have they fled,
From the face of the drawn sword;
And from the face of the bended bow;
And from the face of the grievousness of war.
16For thus hath the Lord said unto me:
Within yet a year, as the years of a hireling,
All the glory of Kedar shall fail:
17And the residue of the number of the mighty bow men of the sons of Kedar, shall be diminished:
For Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.