Isaiah 21:1-12 ▼

1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: Like strong winds blowing in the south, one invades from the desert, from a land that is feared.

2 I have received a distressing message: |The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!|

3 For this reason my stomach churns; cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed by what I hear, horrified by what I see.

4 My heart palpitates, I shake in fear; the twilight I desired has brought me terror.

5 Arrange the table, lay out the carpet, eat and drink! Get up, you officers, smear oil on the shields!

6 For this is what the sovereign master has told me: |Go, post a guard! He must report what he sees.

7 When he sees chariots, teams of horses, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, very alert.|

8 Then the guard cries out: |On the watchtower, O sovereign master, I stand all day long; at my post I am stationed every night.

9 Look what's coming! A charioteer, a team of horses.| When questioned, he replies, |Babylon has fallen, fallen! All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!|

10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, what I have heard from the LORD who commands armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you.

11 Here is a message about Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir, |Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?|

12 The watchman replies, |Morning is coming, but then night. If you want to ask, ask; come back again.|