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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Isaiah 21: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 21
21
Fall of Babylon#This oracle against Babylon is probably to be dated to the period just before the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C. (v. 9).
1Oracle on the wastelands by the sea:#Wastelands by the sea: Babylonia. Negeb: the wilderness south of Judah.
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negeb,
it comes from the desert,
from the fearful land.#Is 30:6; Dt 1:19; Jer 2:6.
2A harsh vision has been announced to me:
“The traitor betrays,
the despoiler spoils.#Is 24:16; 33:1.
Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media;#Elam…Media: nations which, under the leadership of Cyrus, captured Babylon in 539 B.C. End to all its groaning: those who were captive of Babylon will be freed.
put an end to all its groaning!”#Is 13:17; Jer 49:34.
3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish,
pangs have seized me like those of a woman in labor;
I am too bewildered to hear,
too dismayed to look.#Is 16:11; Ps 38:8.
4My mind reels,
shuddering assails me;
The twilight I yearned for
he has turned into dread.#Dt 28:67.
5They set the table,
spread out the rugs;
they eat, they drink.#Babylon is destroyed while its leaders are feasting; cf. Dn 5. Oil the shield: shields were oiled and greased so as to divert blows more easily; cf. 2 Sm 1:21. #Dn 5:5.
Rise up, O princes,
oil the shield!
6For thus my Lord said to me:
Go, station a watchman,
let him tell what he sees.
7If he sees a chariot,
a pair of horses,
Someone riding a donkey,
someone riding a camel,
Then let him pay heed,
very close heed.
8Then the watchman cried,
“On the watchtower, my Lord,
I stand constantly by day;
And I stay at my post
through all the watches of the night.#Hb 2:1.
9Here he comes—
a single chariot,
a pair of horses—
He calls out and says,
‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon!
All the images of her gods
are smashed to the ground!’”#Is 46:1; Jer 50:2; 51:8; Rev 14:8; 18:2.
10To you, who have been threshed,
beaten on my threshing floor,
What I have heard
from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
I have announced to you.#Is 51:23; Jer 51:33; Mi 4:13; Hb 3:12.
Dumah
11Oracle on Dumah:#Dumah: an oasis in north Arabia (cf. Gn 25:14 and 1 Chr 1:30), may be identified with the north Arabian Adummatu mentioned in Assyrian records of Sennacherib’s campaign against north Arabia. Seir: a site in Edom. The Edomites ask the prophet how much longer they must suffer (“the night” of suffering); he answers ambiguously: “Liberation (“morning”) and further suffering (“night”),” but perhaps they will later receive a more encouraging answer (“ask; come back again”).
They call to me from Seir,
“Watchman, how much longer the night?
Watchman, how much longer the night?”
12The watchman replies,
“Morning has come, and again night.
If you will ask, ask; come back again.”
In the Steppe
13Oracle: in the steppe:#In the steppe: the north Arabian steppe where the oases referred to were located. Dedanites: a north Arabian tribe associated with the oasis of Tema; cf. Gn 10:7; 25:3; Jer 25:23.
In the thicket in the steppe you will spend the night,
caravans of Dedanites.
14Meet the thirsty, bring them water,
inhabitants of the land of Tema,
greet the fugitives with bread.#Jb 6:19.
15For they have fled from the sword,
from the drawn sword;
From the taut bow,
from the thick of battle.
16For thus the Lord has said to me: In another year, like the years of a hired laborer,#Year…of a hired laborer: see note on 16:13–14. Kedar: a nomadic tribe in Arabia; cf. 42:11; 60:7; Ps 120:5. all the glory of Kedar shall come to an end. 17Few of Kedar’s stalwart archers shall remain, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
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