Isaiah 21:1–17

¹ This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. ² A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” ³ Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. ⁴ My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror. ⁵ They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields! ⁶ For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. ⁷ When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.” ⁸ Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. ⁹ Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!” ¹⁰ O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel. ¹¹ This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” ¹² The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire. Come back yet again.” ¹³ This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites. ¹⁴ Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food. ¹⁵ For they flee from the sword— the sword that is drawn— from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle. ¹⁶ For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. ¹⁷ The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.