Isaiah 21

The Fall of Babylon Proclaimed

1 The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea.

As *Zech. 9:14whirlwinds in the South pass through,

So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.

2 A distressing vision is declared to me;

*Is. 33:1The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,

And the plunderer plunders.

*Is. 13:17; 22:6; Jer. 49:34Go up, O Elam!

Besiege, O Media!

All its sighing I have made to cease.

3 Therefore *Is. 15:5; 16:11my loins are filled with pain;

*Is. 13:8Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor.

I was distressed when I heard it;

I was dismayed when I saw it.

4 My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;

*Deut. 28:67The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.

5 *Jer. 51:39; Dan. 5:5Prepare the table,

Set a watchman in the tower,

Eat and drink.

Arise, you princes,

Anoint the shield!

6 For thus has the Lord said to me:

"Go, set a watchman,

Let him declare what he sees."

7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen,

A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels,

And he listened earnestly with great care.

8 Then he cried, "A lion, my Lord!

I stand continually on the *Hab. 2:1watchtower in the daytime;

I have sat at my post every night.

9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!"

Then he answered and said,

*Is. 13:19; 47:5, 9; 48:14; Jer. 51:8; Dan. 5:28, 31; Rev. 14:8; 18:2"Babylon is fallen, is fallen!

And *Is. 46:1; Jer. 50:2; 51:44all the carved images of her gods

He has broken to the ground."

10 *Jer. 51:33; Mic. 4:13Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor!

That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts,

The God of Israel,

I have declared to you.

Proclamation Against Edom

11 *Gen. 25:14; 1 Chr. 1:30; Josh. 15:52The burden against Dumah.

He calls to me out of *Gen. 32:3; Jer. 49:7; Ezek. 35:2; Obad. 1Seir,

"Watchman, what of the night?

Watchman, what of the night?"

12 The watchman said,

"The morning comes, and also the night.

If you will inquire, inquire;

Return! Come back!"

Proclamation Against Arabia

13 *Jer. 25:24; 49:28The burden against Arabia.

In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,

O you traveling companies *Gen. 10:7; 1 Chr. 1:9, 32; Jer. 25:23; Ezek. 27:15of Dedanites.

14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,

Bring water to him who is thirsty;

With their bread they met him who fled.

15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,

From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.

16 For thus the Lord has said to me: "Within a year, *Is. 16:14according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of *Ps. 120:5; Song 1:5; Is. 42:11; 60:7; Ezek. 27:21Kedar will fail; 17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it."