Isaiah 21
21
A Vision of the Fall of Babylon
1This is a message about Babylonia.
Like a whirlwind sweeping across the desert, disaster will come from a terrifying land. 2I have seen a vision of cruel events, a vision of betrayal and destruction.
Army of Elam, attack! Army of Media, lay siege to the cities! God will put an end to the suffering which Babylon has caused.
3What I saw and heard in the vision has filled me with terror and pain, pain like that of a woman in labour. 4My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.
5In the vision a banquet is ready; rugs are spread for the guests to sit on. They are eating and drinking. Suddenly the command rings out: “Officers! Prepare your shields!”
6Then the Lord said to me, “Go and post a sentry, and tell him to report what he sees. 7If he sees men coming on horseback, two by two, and men riding on donkeys and camels, he is to observe them carefully.”
8The sentry calls out, “Sir, I have been standing guard at my post day and night.”
9 #
Rev 14.8; 18.2 Suddenly, here they come! Men on horseback, two by two. The sentry gives the news, “Babylon has fallen! All the idols they worshipped lie shattered on the ground.”
10My people Israel, you have been threshed like wheat, but now I have announced to you the good news that I have heard from the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel.
A Message about Edom
11This is a message about Edom.
Someone calls to me from Edom, “Sentry, how soon will the night be over? Tell me how soon it will end.”
12I answer, “Morning is coming, but night will come again. If you want to ask again, come back and ask.”
A Message about Arabia
13This is a message about Arabia.
You people of Dedan, whose caravans camp in the barren country of Arabia, 14give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema, give food to the refugees. 15People are fleeing to escape from swords that are ready to kill them, from bows that are ready to shoot, from all the dangers of war.
16Then the Lord said to me, “In exactly one year the greatness of the tribes of Kedar will be at an end. 17The bowmen are the bravest men of Kedar, but few of them will be left. I, the LORD God of Israel, have spoken.”
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Isaiah 21: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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