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Isaiah 21
New International Version

### A Prophecy Against Babylon

21 A prophecy(A) against the Desert(B) by the Sea:

Like whirlwinds(C) sweeping through the southland,(D)
an invader comes from the desert,
from a land of terror.

2 A dire(E) vision has been shown to me:
The traitor betrays,(F) the looter takes loot.
Elam,(G) attack! Media,(H) lay siege!
I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

3 At this my body is racked with pain,(I)
pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;(J)
I am staggered by what I hear,
I am bewildered(K) by what I see.
4 My heart(L) falters,
fear makes me tremble;(M)
the twilight I longed for
has become a horror(N) to me.

5 They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink!(O)
Get up, you officers,
oil the shields!(P)

6 This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookout(Q)
and have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots(R)
with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
or riders on camels,(S)
let him be alert,
fully alert.”

8 And the lookout[a](T) shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
every night I stay at my post.
9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot(U)
with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
‘Babylon(V) has fallen,(W) has fallen!
All the images of its gods(X)
lie shattered(Y) on the ground!’”

10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,(Z)
I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
from the God of Israel.

### A Prophecy Against Edom

11 A prophecy against Dumah[b]:(AA)

Someone calls to me from Seir,(AB)
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
and come back yet again.”

### A Prophecy Against Arabia

13 A prophecy(AC) against Arabia:(AD)

You caravans of Dedanites,(AE)
who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
14 bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,(AF)
bring food for the fugitives.
15 They flee(AG) from the sword,(AH)
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
and from the heat of battle.

16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract(AI) would count it, all the splendor(AJ) of Kedar(AK) will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.(AL)” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.(AM)

#### Footnotes

1. Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion
2. Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.

#### Cross references

1. Isaiah 21:1 : S Isa 13:1
2. Isaiah 21:1 : Isa 13:21; Jer 50:12; 51:43
3. Isaiah 21:1 : S Job 1:19
4. Isaiah 21:1 : Da 11:40; Zec 9:14
5. Isaiah 21:2 : Ps 60:3
6. Isaiah 21:2 : Isa 24:16; 33:1
7. Isaiah 21:2 : S Ge 10:22; Isa 22:6
8. Isaiah 21:2 : S Isa 13:3; Jer 25:25; 51:28
9. Isaiah 21:3 : S Job 14:22
10. Isaiah 21:3 : S Ge 3:16; Ps 48:6; Isa 26:17; 37:3; Jer 30:6; 48:41; 49:22; Jn 16:21
11. Isaiah 21:3 : Da 7:28; 8:27; 10:16
12. Isaiah 21:4 : Isa 7:4; 35:4
13. Isaiah 21:4 : S Isa 13:8; Da 5:9
14. Isaiah 21:4 : S Ps 55:5
15. Isaiah 21:5 : Isa 5:12; 22:2, 13; 23:7; 24:8; 32:13; Jer 25:16, 27; 51:39, 57; Da 5:2
16. Isaiah 21:5 : 2Sa 1:21; 1Ki 10:16-17; Jer 46:3; 51:11
17. Isaiah 21:6 : S 2Ki 9:17
18. Isaiah 21:7 : ver 9
19. Isaiah 21:7 : S Jdg 6:5
20. Isaiah 21:8 : Mic 7:7; Hab 2:1
21. Isaiah 21:9 : ver 7
22. Isaiah 21:9 : S Isa 13:1; 47:1, 5; S Rev 14:8
23. Isaiah 21:9 : Isa 47:11; Jer 51:8; Da 5:30
24. Isaiah 21:9 : S Lev 26:30; Isa 46:1; Jer 50:2; 51:44
25. Isaiah 21:9 : S Isa 2:18
26. Isaiah 21:10 : Isa 27:12; 28:27, 28; 41:15; Jer 51:33; Mic 4:13; Hab 3:12; Mt 3:12
27. Isaiah 21:11 : S Ge 25:14; S Isa 34:11
28. Isaiah 21:11 : Ge 32:3
29. Isaiah 21:13 : Isa 13:1
30. Isaiah 21:13 : S 2Ch 9:14
31. Isaiah 21:13 : S Ge 10:7; S 25:3
32. Isaiah 21:14 : S Ge 25:15
33. Isaiah 21:15 : S Isa 13:14
34. Isaiah 21:15 : Isa 31:8
35. Isaiah 21:16 : S Lev 25:50
36. Isaiah 21:16 : S Isa 17:3
37. Isaiah 21:16 : S Ge 25:13
38. Isaiah 21:17 : S Dt 4:27; S Isa 10:19
39. Isaiah 21:17 : S Isa 1:20; 16:14

New International Version (NIV)

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