Isaiah 21

A Prophecy Against Babylon

¹A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:

Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland,

an invader comes from the desert,

from a land of terror.

²A dire vision has been shown to me:

The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot.

Elam, attack! Media, lay siege!

I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

³At this my body is racked with pain,

pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;

I am staggered by what I hear,

I am bewildered by what I see.

⁴My heart falters,

fear makes me tremble;

the twilight I longed for

has become a horror to me.

⁵They set the tables,

they spread the rugs,

they eat, they drink!

Get up, you officers,

oil the shields!

⁶This 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 horses,

riders on donkeys

or riders on camels,

let him be alert,

fully alert.”

⁸And the lookout shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;

every night I stay at my post.

⁹Look, here comes a man in a chariot

with a team of horses.

And he gives back the answer:

‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen!

All the images of its gods

lie shattered on the ground!’ ”

¹⁰My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,

I tell you what I have heard

from the Lord Almighty,

from the God of Israel.

A Prophecy Against Edom

¹¹A prophecy against Dumah:

Someone calls to me from Seir,

“Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?”

¹²The watchman replies,

“Morning is coming, but also the night.

If you would ask, then ask;

and come back yet again.”

A Prophecy Against Arabia

¹³A prophecy against Arabia:

You caravans of Dedanites,

who camp in the thickets of Arabia,

¹⁴bring water for the thirsty;

you who live in Tema,

bring food for the fugitives.

¹⁵They flee from the sword,

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow

and from the heat of battle.

¹⁶This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. ¹⁷The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.