Chapter 21•Isaiah
Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
[1] 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.” (ESV)