Isaiah 21
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1The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea. As whirlwinds in the South pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.1A pronouncement concerning the desert by the sea: Like storms that pass over the Negev, it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
2A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease.2A troubling vision is declared to me: "The treacherous one acts treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning."
3Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.3Therefore I am filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. I am too perplexed to hear, too dismayed to see.
4My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.4My heart staggers; horror terrifies me. He has turned my last glimmer of hope into sheer terror.
5Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!5Prepare a table, and spread out a carpet! Eat and drink! Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!
6For thus has the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees.”6For the Lord has said to me, "Go, post a lookout; let him report what he sees.
7And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And he listened earnestly with great care.7When he sees riders--pairs of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels--he must pay close attention."
8Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night.8Then the lookout reported, "Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, and I stay at my post all night.
9And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.”9Look, riders come--horsemen in pairs." And he answered, saying, "Babylon has fallen, has fallen. All the images of her gods have been shattered on the ground."
10Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you.10My people who have been crushed on the threshing floor, I have declared to you what I have heard from the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel.
11The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”11A pronouncement concerning Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, "Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?"
12The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; Return! Come back!”12The watchman said, "Morning has come, and also night. If you want to ask, ask! Come back again."
13The burden against Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, O you traveling companies of Dedanites.13A pronouncement concerning Arabia: In the desert brush you will camp for the night, you caravans of Dedanites.
14O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Bring water to him who is thirsty; With their bread they met him who fled.14Bring water for the thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema meet the refugees with food.
15For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.15For they have fled from swords, from the drawn sword, from the bow that is strung, and from the stress of battle.
16For thus the LORD has said to me: “Within a year, according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of Kedar will fail;16For the Lord said this to me: "Within one year, as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
17and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken it.17The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number." For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
Isaiah 20
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