Isaiah 21

1 The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome 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 to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing.

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 my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labour. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t 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 flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.

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 set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil 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 the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees.

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

7 When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.”

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 He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.

[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 Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to 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 You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to 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 calls to 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 comes, and also the night. If you will enquire, enquire. Come back again.”

[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 on Arabia. You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you 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 They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their 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, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.

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

16 For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will 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, will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has 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.”