Isaiah 21

Oracles from the Wilderness

1An oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negeb,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a fearsome land. 2A harsh vision is told to me:
“The betrayer betrays, the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
I have put an end to all the groaning she caused.” 3So my body is filled with anguish;
pangs grip me like a woman in labor.
I am bent over by what I hear,
terrified by what I see. 4My heart reels; horror overwhelms me.
The twilight I longed for
has become a terror to me.

5Set the table! Spread the coverings!
Eat! Drink!
Rise, commanders! Oil the shield! 6For this is what the Lord told me:
“Go, post a lookout.
Let him report what he sees. 7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys and riders on camels,
let him listen intently, very intently.” 8He cried out like a lion:
“Lord, I stand at the lookout all day long;
I stay at my post every night.

9Look, here comes a troop of men,
horsemen in pairs!”
Then he answered,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon!
All her gods’ carved images
he has shattered to the ground.” 10My threshed people, grain of my threshing floor,
what I heard from the LORD of hosts, Israel’s God,
I have told you. 11An oracle concerning Dumah:
Someone calls to me from Seir,
“Watchman, how much of the night remains?
Watchman, how much of the night?” 12The watchman says,
“Morning comes, and also night.
If you want to ask, ask.
Return; come again.”

13An oracle concerning Arabia:
In Arabia’s thickets you will lodge,
caravans of Dedan. 14Bring water to meet the thirsty,
inhabitants of Tema.
Meet the fugitive with bread. 15They have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
from the weight of war. 16For the Lord said to me, “Within one year, counted like a hired worker’s year, all Kedar’s glory will end.

17The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The LORD, Israel’s God, has spoken.