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.
Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 21
21
Babylon Is Fallen
(Revelation 18:1–8)
1This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev,
an invader comes from the desert,
from a land of terror.
2A dire vision is declared to me:
“The traitor still betrays,
and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media!
I will put an end to all her groaning.”
3Therefore my body is filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor.
I am bewildered to hear,
I am dismayed to see.
4My heart falters;
fear makes me tremble.
The twilight of my desire
has turned to horror.
5They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet,
they eat, they drink!
Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!
6For this is what the Lord says to me:
“Go, post a lookout
and have him report what he sees.
7When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
he must be alert, fully alert.”
8Then the lookout #21:8 DSS and Syriac; MT lion shouted:
“Day after day, my lord,
I stand on the watchtower;
night after night
I stay at my post.
9Look, here come the riders,
horsemen in pairs.”
And one answered, saying:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon!#21:9 See Revelation 14:8 and Revelation 18:2.
All the images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground!”
10O my people, crushed on the threshing floor,
I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel.
The Burden against Edom
(Isaiah 34:5–17)
11This is the burden against Dumah:#21:11 Dumah is a wordplay on Edom, meaning silence.
One calls to me from Seir,#21:11 Seir is another name for Edom.
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12The watchman replies,
“Morning has come, but also the night.
If you would inquire, then inquire.
Come back yet again.”
The Burden against Arabia
13This is the burden against Arabia:
In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.
14Bring water for the thirsty,
O dwellers of Tema;
meet the refugees with food.
15For they flee from the sword—
the sword that is drawn—
from the bow that is bent,
and from the stress of battle.
16For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. 17The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.”
For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.