Isaiah 21:1-10
Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
1 The a oracle concerning the wilderness of b the sea. c As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.
2 A stern vision is told to me;
d the traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O e Elam;
lay siege, O f Media;
all the g sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
h 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 heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
i the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
5 j They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs ▼
▼
Or they set the watchman
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
l oil 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: ▼
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!”
o And he answered,
p “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
q and all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10 O r my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
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