Isaiah 21

1An oracle about the wilderness of the sea. As storms tear across the Negev, so it comes out of the desert, from a land that strikes fear. 2A grim vision has been made known to me: the betrayer still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Advance, Elam! Besiege, Media! I am ending all its groaning. 3That is why my body is racked with anguish; pains have gripped me like the pains of a woman in labor. What I hear bends me double; what I see fills me with dread. 4My mind reels; horror has overcome me. The dusk I yearned for has been turned into dread for me. 5The table is laid, the carpets spread out; there is eating and drinking. Get up, you officers! Rub oil on your shields!

6For the Lord said this to me: Go and set up a lookout; whatever he sees, he must make known. 7When he sees a troop of riders, horsemen two by two, men mounted on donkeys, men mounted on camels, he must listen hard, with all his attention. 8Then he cried out like a lion, “My lord, on the watchtower I stand without a break all day long, and at my post I keep my place night after night.” 9And look, here it comes: a troop of men, horsemen two by two. Then he spoke up, “She has fallen, Babylon has fallen! Every carved image of her gods is smashed and thrown to the ground.” 10O my people, threshed like grain, crushed on my threshing floor! What I heard from the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, I have announced to you.

11An oracle about Dumah. Someone calls out to me from Seir, “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?” 12The watchman answers, “Morning is on its way, and night as well. If you want to ask, then ask. Turn and come once more.”

13An oracle about Arabia. You will spend the night in the scrubland of Arabia, you caravans of Dedan. 14You who live in the land of Tema, carry water out to the thirsty; greet the fugitive with food for him. 15For they have fled before swords, before the unsheathed sword, before the bow drawn taut, before the heavy press of war.

16For the Lord said this to me: In one more year, counted as exactly as a hired worker counts his years, Kedar’s glory will all be gone. 17Of Kedar’s warriors, only a handful of bowmen will remain, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.