Isa 21:1-10 | ESV | STEP | The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea . As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on , it comes from the wilderness , from a terrible land .

Isaiah 21:1-10

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

1 The ^aoracle concerning the wilderness of ^bthe sea.

^cAs whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.
2 A stern vision is told to me;
^dthe traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O ^eElam;
lay siege, O ^fMedia;
all the ^gsighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
^hpangs 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 heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
ⁱthe twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
5 ^jThey prepare the table,
they spread the rugs, ^{▼▼Or they set the watchman}
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
^loil the shield!
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
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 he who saw cried out: ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion}
ⁿ“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
9 And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
^oAnd he answered,
^p“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
^qand all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10 O ^rmy threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.