Isaiah 21
1 A pronouncement concerning the wilderness by the sea. As whirlwinds sweep through the Negeb, so it comes from the wilderness, from a dreadful land.
2 A harsh vision has been announced to me: the traitor betrays, the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media! I have put an end to all the groaning she caused.
3 Therefore my waist is filled with anguish; pangs seize me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I am too overwhelmed to hear, too terrified to see.
4 My heart reels; terror overwhelms me. The evening I longed for has become a time of trembling for me.
5 They set the table, spread the carpet, eat and drink. Rise up, commanders! Anoint the shields!
6 For this is what the Lord said to me: “Go, post a watchman, and let him report what he sees.
7 If he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him pay close attention, watching very carefully.”
8 Then the watchman cried out: “A lion! On the watchtower, Lord, I stand all day long; at my post I take my stand every night.
9 And there they come, men in chariots with teams of horses!” Then he answered, “Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All her idols lie shattered on the ground.”
10 O my people, threshed and beaten on my threshing floor: what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have told you.
11 A pronouncement concerning Dumah. Someone calls to me from Seir: “Watchman, how much of the night remains? Watchman, how much of the night remains?”
12 The watchman answered, “Morning is coming, and so is night. If you want to ask, ask; come back, come again.”
13 A pronouncement concerning Arabia. You will spend the night in the thickets of Arabia, caravans of Dedanites.
14 You who live in the land of Tema, bring water to the thirsty; meet the fugitive with bread.
15 For they have fled from swords, from the drawn sword, the bent bow, and the weight of battle.
16 For this is what the Lord said to me: “Within a year, counted like a hired worker’s year, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
17 The remaining number of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
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