Isaiah, Chapter 21

1. The "Desert of the Sea" Pronouncement. Like the gales That race through the Negeb, It comes from the desert, The terrible land.    2. A harsh prophecy Has been announced to me: "The betrayer is betraying, The ravager ravaging. Advance, Elam! Lay siege, Media! I have put an end To all her sighing."    3. Therefore my loins Are seized with trembling; I am gripped by pangs Like a woman in travail, Too anguished to hear, Too frightened to see.    4. My mind is confused, I shudder in panic. My night of pleasure He has turned to terror:    5. "Set the table!" To "Let the watchman watch!" "Eat and drink!" To "Up, officers! grease the shields!"    6. For thus my LORD said to me: "Go, set up a sentry; Let him announce what he sees.    7. He will see mounted men, Horsemen in pairs -- Riders on asses, Riders on camels -- And he will listen closely, Most attentively."    8. And like a lion he called out: "On my Lord's lookout I stand Ever by day, And at my post I watch Every night.    9. And there they come, mounted men -- Horsemen in pairs!" Then he spoke up and said, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon, And all the images of her gods Have crashed to the ground!"    10. My threshing, the product of my threshing floor: What I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, The God of Israel -- That I have told to you.    11. The "Dumah" Pronouncement. A call comes to me from Seir: "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"    12. The watchman replied, "Morning came, and so did night. If you would inquire, inquire. Come back again."    13. The "In the Steppe" Pronouncement. In the scrub, in the steppe, you will lodge, O caravans of the Dedanites!    14. Meet the thirsty with water, You who dwell in the land of Tema; Greet the fugitive with bread.    15. For they have fled before swords: Before the whetted sword, Before the bow that was drawn, Before the stress of war.    16. For thus my Lord has said to me: "In another year, fixed like the years of a hired laborer, all the multitude of Kedar shall vanish;    17. the remaining bows of Kedar's warriors shall be few in number; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.