Isaiah 21 / 66
- 1
(Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon)
The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.
- 2
A stern vision is told to me;
the traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam;
lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
- 3
Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
pangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
- 4
My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
- 5
They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
oil the shield!
- 6
For thus the Lord said to me:
"Go, set a watchman;
let him announce what he sees.
- 7
When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently."
- 8
Then he who saw cried out:
"Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
- 9
And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!"
And he answered,
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
and all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground."
- 10
O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
- 11
The oracle concerning Dumah.
One is calling to me from Seir,
"Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?"
- 12
The watchman says:
"Morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again."
- 13
The oracle concerning Arabia.
In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.
- 14
To the thirsty bring water;
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
- 15
For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.
- 16
For thus the Lord said to me, "Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
- 17
And 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."