Isaiah 21:1-10
Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
21The 1,aoracle concerning the 2,bwilderness of the sea. As cwhirlwinds in the 3Negev sweep on,It comes from the wilderness, from a fearsome land.
2A aharsh vision has been declared to me;The btreacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.Go up, cElam, lay siege, Media;I have made an end of all 1the groaning she has caused.3For this reason my aloins are full of anguish;Pains have seized me like the pains of a bwoman in labor.I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.4My heart 1reels; 2horror terrorizes me;The twilight I longed for has been aturned for me into trembling.5They aset the table, they 1spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;“Rise up, commanders, oil the shields,”6For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him adeclare what he sees.
7“Indeed, he shall see ariders, horsemen in pairs,Riders of donkeys, riders of camels,So let him pay close attention, very close attention.”8Then 1the lookout called, “aO Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9“Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”And one answered and said, “aFallen, fallen is Babylon;And all the bgraven images of her gods 1are shattered on the ground.”10O my atrampled people and my 1afflicted of the threshing floor!What I have heard from Yahweh of hosts,The God of Israel, I have declared to you.