Isaiah 21

1 The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweeping on, it cometh from the wilderness, from a dreadful land.

[I received] this message [from Yahweh about Babylonia], [a land that is] near the [Persian] Gulf [but which will soon be] a desert. [An army] will soon come from the desert to invade that land; it is an army that causes its enemies to be terrified, an army that will come like a whirlwind from the south.

2 A grievous vision is declared unto me: 'The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam! besiege, O Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease.'

Yahweh showed me a terrifying vision. [In the vision I saw an army] that will betray/deceive people and steal their possessions [after they conquer them]. [Yahweh said], “You armies from Elam and Media, surround [Babylon] and prepare to attack it! I will cause the groaning [and suffering] that Babylon caused to cease!”

3 Therefore are my loins filled with convulsion; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail; I am bent so that I cannot hear; I am affrighted so that I cannot see.

Because of that, my body is full of pain; my pain is like the pain that women who are giving birth experience. When I hear about and see [what God is planning to do], I am shocked.

4 My heart is bewildered, terror hath overwhelmed me; the twilight that I longed for hath been turned for me into trembling.

I cannot think straight/correctly, and I tremble. I was eager for it to be nighttime, but now it is night, and I am horrified.

5 They prepare the table, they light the lamps, they eat, they drink — 'Rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.'

[In the vision I saw that the leaders of Babylonia] were preparing a great feast. They had spread rugs [for people to sit on]; everyone was eating and drinking. [But] they should get up and prepare their shields, [because they are about to be attacked]!

6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman; let him declare what he seeth!

Then Yahweh said to me, “Put a watchman [on the wall of Jerusalem], and tell him to shout/proclaim what he sees.

7 And when he seeth a troop, horsemen by pairs, a troop of asses, a troop of camels, he shall hearken diligently with much heed.

Tell him to watch for chariots pulled by pairs of horses, and [men riding] camels and donkeys, [coming from Babylon]. Tell the watchman to watch and listen carefully!”

8 And he cried as a lion: 'Upon the watch-tower, O Lord, I stand continually in the daytime, and I am set in my ward all the nights.'

[So I did that], and one day the watchman called out, “Day after day I have stood on this watchtower, and I have continued to watch during the day and during the night.

9 And, behold, there came a troop of men, horsemen by pairs. And he spoke and said: 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.'

Now, I saw a man riding in a chariot pulled by two horses. [I called out to him], and he answered/shouted, ‘Babylon has been destroyed! All the idols in Babylon lie in pieces on the ground!’”

10 O thou my threshing, and the winnowing of my floor, that which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

My people [in Judah], [the army of Babylon has caused] you to suffer greatly [as though] [MET] you were grain that was threshed and (winnowed/thrown up into the air for the wind to blow away the chaff). [But now] I have told you what the Commander of the armies of angels the God whom we Israelis [worship], told me [about Babylon].

11 The burden of Dumah. One calleth unto me out of Seir: 'Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?'

[I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Edom: Someone from Edom has been calling/shouting to me saying, “Watchman, how long will it be before the night is ended? [DOU]”

12 The watchman said: 'The morning cometh, and also the night — if ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.'

[I], the watchman, replied, “It will [soon] be morning, but after that, it will [soon] be night again. If you want to inquire [again about what will happen in our country], come back and inquire again.”

13 The burden upon Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye caravans of Dedanites.

[I received] this message about Arabia: Give this message to people traveling in caravans from Dedan [town in northwest Arabia], who camp in the scrub there. Tell them to bring water for those who are thirsty.

14 Unto him that is thirsty bring ye water! The inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitive with his bread.

And you people who live in Tema [city in northwest Arabia], must bring food for the (refugees/people who are fleeing from their enemies).

15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.

They are fleeing in order not to be killed by [their enemies’] swords and not to be shot in battles by arrows.

16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me: 'Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail;

Yahweh said to me, “Exactly one year from now, all the greatness of the Kedar [area in Arabia] will end.

17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished; for the LORD, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.'

Only a few of their soldiers who know well how to shoot arrows will remain alive. [That will surely happen] because [I], Yahweh, have said it.”