Isaiah 21-24
Amplified Bible
God Commands That Babylon Be Taken
21 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([a]a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the [b]Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):
As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,
So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.
2
A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end.(A)
3
Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth;
I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.
4
My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been [c]turned into fear and trembling for me.(B)
5
They set the table [for the doomed banquet], they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains [of Belshazzar’s court], oil your shields [for battle, for your enemy is at the gates]!”
6 This is what the Lord says to me,
“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
7
“When he sees a chariot, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys and a train of camels,
Let him pay attention and listen closely, very closely.”
8 And the lookout called like a lion,
“O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower by day,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9
“Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”
10
O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].
Oracles about Edom and Arabia
11 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([d]a burden to be carried) concerning Dumah (Edom):
Someone keeps calling to me from Seir (Edom),
“Watchman, what is left of the night [of Assyrian oppression]?
Watchman, what is left of the night? [How long until morning?]”
12
The watchman says,
“The morning comes [only briefly], but also [comes] the night [of Babylonian oppression].
If you would ask [of me then], ask [again, if Edom really wishes to know];
Come back again.”
13 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([e]a burden to be carried) concerning Arabia:
In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
Caravans of Dedanites.
14
Bring water for the thirsty [Dedanites],
O inhabitants of the land of Tema [in Arabia];
Meet the fugitive with bread.
15
For they have fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, from the bent bow
And from the press of battle and grief of war.
16 For the Lord has said this to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end; 17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
The Valley of Vision
22 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([f]a burden to be carried) concerning the Valley of Vision:
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
2
You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city;
Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.
3
All your leaders have fled together [with your king],
And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.
4
Therefore I say, “Look away from me;
Let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5
For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusion
In the Valley of Vision,
A [day of] breaking down walls
And a crying [for help] to the mountain.
6
Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And Kir uncovered the shield.
7
And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took their fixed positions [in an offensive array] at the gate [of Jerusalem].(C)
8
Then God removed the [protective] covering of Judah;
And in that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest (Solomon’s armory).(D)
9
You saw that the breaches
In the wall of the City of David [the citadel of Zion] were many;
You collected [within the city’s walls] the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).
10
Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].
11
You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the [g]Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.
12
Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
13
Instead, there is joy and jubilation,
Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine, saying,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14
But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,
“This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.
15
For the Lord God of hosts says this, “Go to this [contemptible] steward,
To [h]Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],
16
‘What business do you have here?
And whom do you have here,
That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself,
You who hew a sepulcher on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
17
‘Listen carefully, the Lord is about to hurl you away violently, O man;
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18
And roll you up tightly like a ball
And toss you into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
19
“I will depose you from your office,
And you will be pulled down from your position [of importance].
20
“Then it will come to pass in that day
That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.
21
“And I will clothe him with your tunic [of distinction]
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will entrust him with your authority;
He will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22
“Then I will set on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will open.
23
“I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
And he will become a throne of honor and glory to his father’s house.
24 “So they will hang on him all the honor and glory [the complete responsibility] of his father’s house, offspring and issue [of the family, high and low], all the least of the articles, from the bowls to all the jars. 25 In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
The Fall of Tyre
23 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([i]a burden to be carried) concerning [j]Tyre:
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).
2
Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You [k]merchants of Sidon;
[l]Your messengers crossed the sea
3
And they were on great waters.
The grain of the [m]Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
4
Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither labored nor given birth [to children];
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
5
When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.
6
Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles];
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].
7
Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin dates back to antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?
8
Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9
The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.
10
Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].
11
He has stretched out His hand over the sea,
He has shaken the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].
12
He has said, “You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
13 Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their [n]siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.
14
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.
15 Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:
16
Take a harp, walk around the city,
O forgotten prostitute;
Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.
17 It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the Lord will remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute’s wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will be [o]dedicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.
Judgment on the Earth
24 Behold, the Lord [p]lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants. 2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all]. 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 5 The earth also is polluted [q]by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.(E) 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.(F)
7
The new wine mourns,
The vine decays;
All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.
8
The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases,
The noise of those who rejoice ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9
They do not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10
The city of chaos is broken down;
Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11
There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
All jubilation is darkened,
The joy of the earth is banished.
12
Horrible desolation is left in the city,
And the gate is battered into ruins.
13
For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].
14
They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.
15
Therefore honor and glorify the Lord in the east [in the region of light],
The name of the Lord, the God of Israel [honor His name],
In the coastlands and islands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.
16
From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory and honor to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!
The treacherous deal treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17
Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare
Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
19
The earth is broken completely apart,
The earth is split apart,
The earth is shaken violently.
20
The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard
And sways like a shack;
Its transgression lies heavily upon it,
And it will fall and not rise again.
21
So it will happen in that day
That the Lord will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on the earth.(G)
22
They will be gathered together
As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon;
They will be shut up in prison,
And after many days they will be visited and punished.(H)
23
Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
- Isaiah 21:1 Probably a reference to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and their tributaries which overflowed their banks like a sea. Great dams were constructed to control their floodwaters.
- Isaiah 21:4 The vision reveals the events to occur at the feast of Belshazzar—the defilement of the golden articles taken from God’s temple, the handwriting on the wall, the murder of Babylon’s great king.
- Isaiah 21:11 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
- Isaiah 21:13 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
- Isaiah 22:1 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
- Isaiah 22:11 Perhaps a reference to the Gihon Spring, also called the Upper Pool.
- Isaiah 22:15 Shebna would have been second in command to King Hezekiah before being deposed from steward (administrator) to the position of scribe (36:3).
- Isaiah 23:1 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
- Isaiah 23:1 Ancient Tyre was a Phoenician trading center with two separate urban areas; the major trading center was located on a fortified island and the suburban center was located on the adjacent coast. They were connected by a causeway built by Alexander the Great during his siege of Tyre.
- Isaiah 23:2 So some versions; MT reads merchant.
- Isaiah 23:2 The DSS so read. MT reads Who crossed the sea, they replenished you.
- Isaiah 23:3 An Egyptian name meaning “the pond of Horus”; it is probably a branch of the Nile or an unspecified lake.
- Isaiah 23:13 Besieging a heavily fortified (walled) city was an ancient military tactic. The attackers would surround the city and cut off all supplies and communication to or from the inhabitants, then they would use siege towers to tear down the walls. The tower was a massive support structure for a heavy beam or log that was sharpened on one end and hung horizontally. It would be pushed against a wall and worked in such a way as to dislodge the stones that had been stacked to form the wall.
- Isaiah 23:18 Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 572 b.c. and lay desolate for seventy years. The new city built on the island was taken by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c. Eventually Christianity prevailed at Tyre. Jesus visited there (Matt 15:21) and so did Paul (Acts 21:3-6). In his commentary on Isaiah Eusebius says that when the church of God was founded in Tyre, much of its wealth was consecrated to God and presented for the support of ministers. This is also the testimony of Jerome, the Latin church father writing in the fourth century.
- Isaiah 24:1 The gradual destruction of the earth, as revealed by God to Isaiah, is prophesied in this passage. He sees both the current and the future tragedies which will befall earth.
- Isaiah 24:5 Lit under.
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