God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

      1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.
         As windstorms in the Negev sweep on,
         It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

2A harsh vision has been shown to me;
         The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
         Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;
         I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused.

3For this reason my loins are full of anguish;
         Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
         I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.

4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
         The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.

5They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
         “Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

6For thus the Lord says to me,
         “Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.

7“When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
         A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
         Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

8Then the lookout called,
         “O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
         And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

9“Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
         And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
         And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

10O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
         What I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
         The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

      11The oracle concerning Edom.
         One keeps calling to me from Seir,
         “Watchman, how far gone is the night?
         Watchman, how far gone is the night?”

12The watchman says,
         “Morning comes but also night.
         If you would inquire, inquire;
         Come back again.”

      13The oracle about Arabia.
         In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
         O caravans of Dedanites.

14Bring water for the thirsty,
         O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
         Meet the fugitive with bread.

15For they have fled from the swords,
         From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow
         And from the press of battle.

      16For thus the Lord said to me, “In a year, as a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate; 17and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land.

Douay-Rheims Bible
THE burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from the south, it cometh from the desert from a terrible land.

Darby Bible Translation
The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

English Revised Version
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land.

Webster's Bible Translation
The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

World English Bible
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.

Young's Literal Translation
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. 'Like hurricanes in the south for passing through, From the wilderness it hath come, From a fearful land.The Morning Breaketh
TEXT: "Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night."--Isaiah 21:11-12. It is very interesting to note that, whether we study the Old Testament or the New, nights are always associated with God's mornings. In other words, he does not leave us in despair without sending to us his messengers of hope and cheer. The Prophet Isaiah in this particular part of his prophecy seems to be almost broken-hearted because of the sin of the people. As one of the Scotch …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

In the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius Cæsar and under the Pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas - a Voice in the Wilderness
THERE is something grand, even awful, in the almost absolute silence which lies upon the thirty years between the Birth and the first Messianic Manifestation of Jesus. In a narrative like that of the Gospels, this must have been designed; and, if so, affords presumptive evidence of the authenticity of what follows, and is intended to teach, that what had preceded concerned only the inner History of Jesus, and the preparation of the Christ. At last that solemn silence was broken by an appearance, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Letter Xlii to the Illustrious Youth, Geoffrey De Perrone, and his Comrades.
To the Illustrious Youth, Geoffrey de Perrone, and His Comrades. He pronounces the youths noble because they purpose to lead the religious life, and exhorts them to perseverance. To his beloved sons, Geoffrey and his companions, Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes the spirit of counsel and strength. 1. The news of your conversion that has got abroad is edifying many, nay, is making glad the whole Church of God, so that The heavens rejoice and the earth is glad (Ps. xcvi. 11), and every tongue …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Isaiah 21:1 NIV • Isaiah 21:1 NLT • Isaiah 21:1 ESV • Isaiah 21:1 NASB • Isaiah 21:1 KJV • Isaiah 21:1 Bible Apps • Isaiah 21:1 Parallel • Bible Hub