Isaiah 21:8
◄  Isaiah 21:8  ►
New International Version (©2011)
And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.

New Living Translation (©2007)
Then the watchman called out, "Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord. Night after night I have remained at my post.

English Standard Version (©2001)
Then he who saw cried out: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Then the lookout called, "O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
Then the lookout reported," Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, and I stay at my post all night.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Then the lookout shouted: "Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and I am stationed at my post throughout the night.

NET Bible (©2006)
Then the guard cries out: "On the watchtower, O sovereign master, I stand all day long; at my post I am stationed every night.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
The watchman called, "Sir, I stand on the watchtower every day. Every night, I stand guard at my post.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am stationed in my post whole nights:

American King James Version
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:

American Standard Version
And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward whole nights;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole nights.

Darby Bible Translation
And he cried as a lion, Lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights.

English Revised Version
And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the day-time, and am set in my ward whole nights:

Webster's Bible Translation
And he cried, a lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day time, and I am set in my ward whole nights.

World English Bible
He cried like a lion: "Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.

Young's Literal Translation
And he crieth -- a lion, 'On a watch-tower my lord, I am standing continually by day, And on my ward I am stationed whole nights.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

21:1-10 Babylon was a flat country, abundantly watered. The destruction of Babylon, so often prophesied of by Isaiah, was typical of the destruction of the great foe of the New Testament church, foretold in the Revelation. To the poor oppressed captives it would be welcome news; to the proud oppressors it would be grievous. Let this check vain mirth and sensual pleasures, that we know not in what heaviness the mirth may end. Here is the alarm given to Babylon, when forced by Cyrus. An ass and a camel seem to be the symbols of the Medes and Persians. Babylon's idols shall be so far from protecting her, that they shall be broken down. True believers are the corn of God's floor; hypocrites are but as chaff and straw, with which the wheat is now mixed, but from which it shall be separated. The corn of God's floor must expect to be threshed by afflictions and persecutions. God's Israel of old was afflicted. Even then God owns it is his still. In all events concerning the church, past, present, and to come, we must look to God, who has power to do any thing for his church, and grace to do every thing that is for her good.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - And he cried, A lion; rather, he cried as a lion; i.e. with a loud deep voice (comp. Revelation 10:3). The watchman, after long waiting, becomes impatient, and can contain himself no longer. He makes complaint of his long vain watch. My lord; rather, O Lord. The watchman addresses his complaint to Jehovah.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he cried, a lion,.... That is, the watchman cried, a lion, or that he saw a lion; not Uriah the priest, as the Septuagint; nor Habakkuk, as some Jewish writers; but Cyrus, at the head of the Persian and Median armies, compared to a lion for his fierceness, courage, and strength; see 2 Timothy 4:17 a type of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, by whom antichrist, or mystical Babylon, will be destroyed, Revelation 5:5. The Targum is,

"the prophet said, the voice of armies, coming with coats of mail, as a lion.''

Aben Ezra interprets it, the watchman cried as a lion, with a great voice; upon sight of the chariots and horsemen, he lifted up his voice, and roared like a lion, to express the terror he was in, and the greatness of the calamity that was coming upon the city.

I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime: so that nothing could escape his notice:

and I am set in my ward whole nights: which expresses his diligence, vigilance, and constancy, in the discharge of his duty; and therefore what he said he saw might be depended on.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. A lion—rather, "(The watchman) cried, I am as a lion"; so as is understood (Isa 62:5; Ps 11:1). The point of comparison to "a lion" is in Re 10:3, the loudness of the cry. But here it is rather his vigilance. The lion's eyelids are short, so that, even when asleep, he seems to be on the watch, awake; hence he was painted on doors of temples as the symbol of watchfulness, guarding the place (Hor. Apollo) [Horsley].

Isaiah 21:8 Parallel Commentaries

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Babylon is Fallen
…7And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he listened diligently with much heed: 8And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: 9And, behold, here comes a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he has broken to the ground.

2 Chronicles 20:24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.