BSB · Scripture
Isaiah 21
Berean Standard Bible
Section headings and translator notes come from the publisher; they are reading aids, distinct from the Bible text.
Babylon Is Fallen
Verse1This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
Verse2A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
Verse3Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
Verse4My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.
Verse5They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!
Verse6For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.
Verse7When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.”
Verse8Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post.
Verse9Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
Verse10O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.
The Burden against Edom
Verse11This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”
Verse12The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire. Come back yet again.”
The Burden against Arabia
Verse13This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
Verse14Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food.
Verse15For they flee from the sword— the sword that is drawn— from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle.
Verse16For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
Verse17The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Translator notes (4)
- Verse 8: DSS and Syriac; MT lion
- Verse 9: See Revelation 14:8 and Revelation 18:2.
- Verse 11: Dumah is a wordplay on Edom, meaning silence.
- Verse 11: Seir is another name for Edom.