Isaiah 21

1An oracle concerning the wilderness by the sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

2A harsh vision has been shown to me: the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media! I have put an end to all her groaning.

3Therefore my body is filled with anguish; pangs have seized me like the pangs of a woman in labor. I am bent double at what I hear; I am terrified at what I see.

4My heart staggers; horror overwhelms me. The twilight I longed for has become a terror to me.

5They set the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Get up, you commanders! Oil the shields!

6For this is what the Lord said to me: Go, post a lookout; let him report what he sees.

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

8Then the lookout cried out like a lion, “Lord, I stand on the watchtower continually by day, and I am stationed at my post every night.

9Look, here comes a man in a chariot, with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the carved images of her gods lie shattered on the ground.”

10My people, threshed and winnowed on my threshing floor, what I have heard from Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, I have told you.

11An oracle concerning Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”

12The watchman says, “Morning is coming, and also the night. If you would ask, ask; come back again.”

13An oracle concerning Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you will spend the night, you caravans of Dedanites.

14Bring water to the thirsty, you who live in the land of Tema; meet the fugitives with bread.

15For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.

16For this is what the Lord said to me: Within a year, as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.

17The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken.