Isaiah 21

English Standard Version

^(C)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
² A stern vision is told to me;
    ^(D)the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O ^(E)Elam;
    lay siege, O ^(F)Media;
all the ^(G)sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    ^(H)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;
    ^(I)the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
^5 (J)They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,^[a]
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    ^(K)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:^[b]
(L)“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!”
^(M)And he answered,
    ^(N)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
^(O)and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
¹⁰ O ^(P)my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

One is calling to me from ^(S)Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
¹² The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also ^(T)the night.
    If you will inquire, ^(U)inquire;
    come back again.”

In the thickets in ^(X)Arabia you will lodge,
    O ^(Y)caravans of ^(Z)Dedanites.
¹⁴ To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of ^(AA)Tema.
¹⁵ For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.