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ISAIAH INSTITUTE TRANSLATION

  Isaiah

21

Isaiah 21

Jehovah appoints a watchman to warn of Babylon’s imminent fall at the hands of the Assyrian alliance.

1 An oracle concerning the Wilderness of the West:
Like tornadoes sweeping through the South,they come from the steppes, a land of terror.
2 A grim vision has been revealed to me:the traitor in the act of treachery,the destroyer laying waste.Attack, O Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes!All the sighing that Babylona has causedI will bring to an end.
3 Therefore my whole frame is racked with trembling;throes of agony have seized me like a woman in labor.I am tormented beyond giving heed;I am too distraught to see. 4 My mind reels, I am paralyzed with fear;the nightfall I longed for has become a horror to me: 5 They prepare tables;they deck them with candlesticks.They are eating and drinking . . .Mobilize, you commanders! Oil the armor!
6 Because of this my Lord said to me,Go and appoint a watchmanwho will report what he sees. 7 Let him watch for chariots with teams of horses,riders on asses and riders on camels.He must be most vigilant, fully alert. 8 Then the lookoutb cried,I have been standing on the watchtowerday in and day out, my Lord;night after night I have stood guard. 9 Now they come: cavalry and teams of horses!And he gave the reply,She has fallen; Babylon has fallen.All her idol gods he has razed to the ground.
10 cTo you who know me, who are of my fold,c
I have reported what I heardfrom Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel.
11 An oracle concerning Dumah:
Men call to me from Seir,Watchman, what remains of the night?Watchman, how much of the night is left?
12 The watchman replies,Morning comes, though it is still night.If you would ascertain it,do so by repenting and coming back.
13 An oracle concerning those in Arabia:
You wandering bands of Dedanites,who sojourn in the forests of Arabia,
14 bring water to greet the thirsty;meet the fugitives with food,O inhabitants of the land of Tema. 15 For they flee from destruction,from the bared sword, the drawn bowand the severity of war.
16 On account of this, my Lord said to me, Within a year, as the term of a lease, Kedar’s glory shall fully expire. 17 And the number of valiant archers remaining of the sons of Kedar shall be few. Jehovah, the God of Israel, has spoken it.

  • a2 Hebrew she.
  • b8 So 1QIsaa; MT a lion.
  • c10 So 1QIsaa; MT My threshed and winnowed ones.


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