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
1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the desert,
from a terrible land.
2A stern vision is told to me;
the plunderer plunders,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam,
lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in travail;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear,
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
4My mind reels, horror has appalled me;
the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
5They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes,
oil the shield!
6For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
let him announce what he sees.
7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on asses, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.”
8Then he who saw#21.8 One ancient Ms: Heb a lion cried:
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
9And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
And he answered,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
and all the images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
11The oracle concerning Dumah.
One is calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?”
12The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.”
13The oracle concerning Arabia.
In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.
14To the thirsty bring water,
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
15For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.
16For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end; 17and the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America