Isaiah 21:1-8 ▼

1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.

2 A stern vision is told to me; the betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.

3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

4 My mind reels, horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.

5 They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Rise up, commanders, oil the shield!

6 For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, post a lookout, let him announce what he sees.

7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently.”

8 Then the watcher called out: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed throughout the night.