Isaiah 21

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The chapter opens with a burden against the Desert by the Sea, describing an invader coming from a land of terror like a sweeping whirlwind, while Elam and Media are called to lay siege. The prophet expresses deep anguish, physical pain, and trembling fear upon seeing a vision of betrayal and destruction amidst a scene of feasting princes. The Lord instructs the prophet to post a lookout who reports seeing chariots and riders, followed by the proclamation that Babylon has fallen and its idols are shattered. Subsequent sections present brief burdens concerning Dumah, where a voice from Seir asks about the night, and Arabia, where caravans of Dedanites lodge in thickets while dwellers of Tema bring water and food to refugees fleeing from battle. Finally, the Lord states that within a year, the glory and the remaining warriors of Kedar will be severely diminished.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. ²A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” ³Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. ⁴My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror. ⁵They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields! ⁶For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. ⁷When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.” ⁸Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. ⁹Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!” ¹⁰O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel. ¹¹This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” ¹²The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire. Come back yet again.” ¹³This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites. ¹⁴Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food. ¹⁵For they flee from the sword— the sword that is drawn— from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle. ¹⁶For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. ¹⁷The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.