Isaiah 21 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

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

Isa 21:2

Isa 21:2A stern vision is told to me;
the traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam;
lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.

Isa 21:3

Isa 21:3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
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.

Isa 21:4

Isa 21:4My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.

Isa 21:5

Isa 21:5They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,[fn]
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
oil the shield!

Isa 21:6

Isa 21:6For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
let him announce what he sees.

Isa 21:7

Isa 21:7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.”

Isa 21:8

Isa 21:8Then he who saw cried out:[fn]
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.

Isa 21:9

Isa 21:9And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
And he answered,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
and all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”

Isa 21:10

Isa 21:10O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.

Isa 21:11

Isa 21:11The oracle concerning Dumah.
One is calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?”

Isa 21:12

Isa 21:12The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.”

Isa 21:13

Isa 21:13The oracle concerning Arabia.
In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.

Isa 21:14

Isa 21:14To the thirsty bring water;
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema.

Isa 21:15

Isa 21:15For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.

Isa 21:16

Isa 21:16For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.

Isa 21:17

Isa 21:17And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(21:5)

Or they set the watchman

(21:8)

Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.