Isaiah 21

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As windstorms in the Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land. 2A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused. 3For this reason my loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. 4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. 5They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

6For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees. 7“When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

8Then the lookout called, “O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post. 9“Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.” 10O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia 11The oracle concerning Edom. One keeps calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, how far gone is the night?
Watchman, how far gone is the night?” 12The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”

13The oracle about Arabia. In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
O caravans of Dedanites. 14Bring water for the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Meet the fugitive with bread. 15For they have fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow
And from the press of battle.

16For thus the Lord said to me, “In a year, as a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate; 17and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken.”