New Living Translation
Isaiah • Chapter 21
1
This message came to me concerning Babylon — the desert by the sea : Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert,<br>like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.<br>
2
I see a terrifying vision:<br>I see the betrayer betraying,<br>the destroyer destroying.<br>Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes,<br>attack and lay siege.<br>I will make an end<br>to all the groaning Babylon caused.<br>
3
My stomach aches and burns with pain.<br>Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me,<br>like those of a woman in labor.<br>I grow faint when I hear what God (Elohim) is planning;<br>I am too afraid to look.<br>
4
My mind reels and my heart races.<br>I longed for evening to come,<br>but now I am terrified of the dark.<br>
5
Look! They are preparing a great feast.<br>They are spreading rugs for people to sit on.<br>Everyone is eating and drinking.<br>But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle.<br>You are being attacked!<br>
6
Meanwhile, the Lord said to me,<br>“Put a watchman on the city wall.<br>Let him shout out what he sees.<br>
7
He should look for chariots<br>drawn by pairs of horses,<br>and for riders on donkeys and camels.<br>Let the watchman be fully alert.”<br>
8
Then the watchman called out,<br>“Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord.<br>Night after night I have remained at my post.<br>
9
Now at last — look!<br>Here comes a man in a chariot<br>with a pair of horses!”<br>Then the watchman said,<br>“Babylon is fallen, fallen!<br>All the idols of Babylon<br>lie broken on the ground!”<br>
10
O my people, threshed and winnowed,<br>I have told you everything the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said,<br>everything the God (Elohim) of Israel has told me.<br>
11
This message came to me concerning Edom : Someone from Edom keeps calling to me,<br>“Watchman, how much longer until morning?<br>When will the night be over?”<br>
12
The watchman replies,<br>“Morning is coming, but night will soon return.<br>If you wish to ask again, then come back and ask.”<br>
13
This message came to me concerning Arabia: O caravans from Dedan,<br>hide in the deserts of Arabia.<br>
14
O people of Tema,<br>bring water to these thirsty people,<br>food to these weary refugees.<br>
15
They have fled from the sword,<br>from the drawn sword,<br>from the bent bow<br>and the terrors of battle.<br>
16
The Lord said to me, “Within a year, counting each day, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
17
Only a few of its courageous archers will survive. I, the LORD, the God (Elohim) of Israel, have spoken!”