1Isaiah 21:1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As windstorms in the Negev sweep on, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
2Isaiah 21:2A 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.
3Isaiah 21:3For 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.
4Isaiah 21:4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
5Isaiah 21:5They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”
6Isaiah 21:6For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
7Isaiah 21:7“When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”
8Isaiah 21:8Then the lookout called, “O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9Isaiah 21:9“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.”
10Isaiah 21:10O 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
11Isaiah 21:11The oracle concerning Edom. One keeps calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
12Isaiah 21:12The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.”
13Isaiah 21:13The oracle about Arabia. In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, O caravans of Dedanites.
14Isaiah 21:14Bring water for the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Meet the fugitive with bread.
15Isaiah 21:15For they have fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow And from the press of battle.
16Isaiah 21:16For thus the Lord said to me, “In a year, as a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate;
17Isaiah 21:17and 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.”
