Isaiah 21
21
Fallen, fallen is Babylon
1An oracle about the wilderness near the sea.
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the arid southern plain,
it comes from the desert, from a fearsome land.
2A harsh vision was proclaimed to me:
The betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
Put an end to all her groaning.
3Therefore, I’m shaken to my core in anguish.
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I’m too bent over to hear,
too dismayed to see.
4My heart pounds; convulsions overpower me.
He has turned my evening of pleasure into dread—
5setting the table, spreading the cloth, eating, drinking.
“Arise, captains!
Polish the shields.”
6The Lord said this to me:
“Go, post a lookout to report what he sees.
7When he sees chariots, pairs of horsemen,
donkey riders, camel riders,
he should listen carefully,
carefully, very carefully.”
8Then the seer#21.8 DSS (1QIsaa), Syr; MT a lion called out:
“Upon a watchtower, Lord,
I’m standing all day;
and upon my observation post
I’m stationed throughout the night.
9Here they come:
charioteers, pairs of horsemen!”
One spoke up and said,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
are shattered on the ground!”
10Oh, my downtrodden people, threshed on my threshing floor,
what I heard from the LORD of heavenly forces,
the God of Israel, I reported to you.
A mysterious dialogue
11An oracle about Dumah.#21.11 LXX Edom
Someone is calling to me from Seir:
“Guard, how long is the night?
Guard, how long is the night?”
12The guard said,
“Morning has come, but it is still night.
If you must inquire, inquire;
come back again.”
13An oracle about the desert.
In the woods, in the desert where you camp,
caravans of the Dedanites 14meet the thirsty with water;
inhabitants of the land of Tema greet the refugees with bread.
15They have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
and from the intensity of battle.
16So the Lord said to me: Within a year, according to the number of years for which a laborer is hired, all the glory of Kedar will end; 17there will be few Kedarite archers remaining. The LORD God of Israel has spoken.
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Isaiah 21: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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