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21 The [a]burden of the wilderness of the sea.

As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land. A [b]grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous man dealeth treacherously, and the destroyer destroyeth. Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof [c]have I made to cease. Therefore are my loins filled with anguish; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail: I am [d]pained so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see. My heart [e]fluttereth, horror hath affrighted me; the twilight that I desired hath been turned into trembling unto me. They prepare the table, they [f]set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman; let him declare what he seeth: [g]and when he seeth [h]a troop, [i]horsemen in pairs, [j]a troop of asses, [k]a troop of camels, he shall hearken diligently with much heed. And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward [l]whole nights; and, behold, here [m]cometh a troop of men, [n]horsemen in pairs. And he answered and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.

10 O thou my threshing, and the [o]grain of my floor! that which I have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

11 The [p]burden of Dumah.

One calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, [q]what of the night? Watchman, [r]what of the night? 12 The watchman said, The morning [s]cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: [t]turn ye, come.

13 The [u]burden upon Arabia.

In the [v]forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye caravans of Dedanites. 14 Unto him that [w]was thirsty they brought water; [x]the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread. 15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. 16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail; 17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be few; for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.

22 The [y]burden of the valley of vision.

What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? O thou that art full of shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; thy slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle. All thy rulers fled away together, they were bound [z]by the archers; all that were found of thee were bound together; [aa]they fled afar off. Therefore said I, Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; [ab]labor not to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

For it is a day of discomfiture, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the [ac]mountains. And Elam bare the quiver, with [ad]chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield. And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate. And he took away the covering of Judah; and thou didst look in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool; 10 and ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye brake down the houses to fortify the wall; 11 ye made also a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But ye looked not unto [ae]him that had done this, neither had ye respect unto him that purposed it long ago.

12 And in that day did the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 13 and, behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die. 14 And Jehovah of hosts revealed himself in mine ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be [af]forgiven you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

15 Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee unto this [ag]treasurer, even unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say, 16 What doest thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out here a sepulchre? hewing him out a sepulchre on high, graving a habitation for himself in the rock! 17 Behold, Jehovah, [ah]like a strong man, will hurl thee away violently; yea, he will [ai]wrap thee up closely. 18 He will surely wind thee round and round, and toss thee like a ball into a large country; there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of thy lord’s house. 19 And I will thrust thee from thine office; and from thy station shalt thou be pulled down. 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: 21 and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father’s house. 24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the flagons. 25 In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail that was fastened in a sure place give way; and it shall be hewn down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for Jehovah hath spoken it.

23 The [aj]burden of Tyre.

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. Be still, ye inhabitants of the coast, thou whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. And on great waters the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the mart of nations. Be thou ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea hath spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins. [ak]When the report cometh to Egypt, they shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to Tarshish; wail, ye inhabitants of the coast. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is [al]of ancient days, whose feet carried her afar off to sojourn?

Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to [am]stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. 10 [an]Pass through thy land as the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no [ao]restraint any more. 11 He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he hath shaken the kingdoms: Jehovah hath given commandment concerning [ap]Canaan, to destroy the strongholds thereof. 12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon: arise, pass over to Kittim; even there shalt thou have no rest.

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans: [aq]this people was not; the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness; they set up [ar]their towers; they [as]overthrew the palaces thereof; they made it a ruin. 14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste. 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years [at]it shall be unto Tyre as in the song of the harlot. 16 Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat sufficiently, and for [au]durable clothing.

24 Behold, Jehovah maketh the [av]earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him. The earth shall be utterly emptied, and utterly laid waste; for Jehovah hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, [aw]the lofty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 10 The waste city is broken down; every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 11 There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is [ax]gone. 12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. 13 For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the [ay]shaking of an olive-tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.

14 These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout; for the majesty of Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea. 15 Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the [az]east, even the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the [ba]isles of the sea. 16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous.

But I said, [bb]I pine away, I pine away, woe is me! the treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously. 17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. 18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. 19 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will [bc]punish the host of the [bd]high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the [be]pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be [bf]visited. 23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts will reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders shall be glory.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 21:1 Or, oracle concerning
  2. Isaiah 21:2 Or, hard
  3. Isaiah 21:2 Or, will I make
  4. Isaiah 21:3 Hebrew bent.
  5. Isaiah 21:4 Hebrew wandereth.
  6. Isaiah 21:5 Or, spread the carpets
  7. Isaiah 21:7 Or, and he saw . . . and he hearkened
  8. Isaiah 21:7 Or, a chariot. Or, chariots
  9. Isaiah 21:7 Or, a pair of horsemen
  10. Isaiah 21:7 Or, a chariot. Or, chariots
  11. Isaiah 21:7 Or, a chariot. Or, chariots
  12. Isaiah 21:8 Or, every night
  13. Isaiah 21:9 Or, come chariots of men
  14. Isaiah 21:9 Or, a pair of horsemen
  15. Isaiah 21:10 Hebrew son.
  16. Isaiah 21:11 Or, oracle concerning
  17. Isaiah 21:11 Or, what hour
  18. Isaiah 21:11 Or, what hour
  19. Isaiah 21:12 Or, is come
  20. Isaiah 21:12 Or, come ye again
  21. Isaiah 21:13 Or, oracle
  22. Isaiah 21:13 Or, thickets
  23. Isaiah 21:14 Or, is thirsty bring ye
  24. Isaiah 21:14 Or, as otherwise read, ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, meet
  25. Isaiah 22:1 Or, oracle concerning
  26. Isaiah 22:3 Or, without the bow
  27. Isaiah 22:3 Or, that had fled from far
  28. Isaiah 22:4 Or, hasten
  29. Isaiah 22:5 Or, mountain
  30. Isaiah 22:6 Or, troops
  31. Isaiah 22:11 Or, the maker thereof
  32. Isaiah 22:14 Or, expiated by
  33. Isaiah 22:15 Or, steward
  34. Isaiah 22:17 Or, O thou strong man
  35. Isaiah 22:17 Or, lay fast hold on thee
  36. Isaiah 23:1 Or, oracle concerning
  37. Isaiah 23:5 Or, As at the report concerning Egypt, so etc.
  38. Isaiah 23:7 Or, of ancient days? her own feet shall carry etc.
  39. Isaiah 23:9 Hebrew profane.
  40. Isaiah 23:10 Or, Overflow
  41. Isaiah 23:10 Hebrew girdle.
  42. Isaiah 23:11 Or, the merchant people
  43. Isaiah 23:13 Or, This people is no more; the Assyrian hath appointed it for the beasts of the wilderness
  44. Isaiah 23:13 Or, the towers thereof
  45. Isaiah 23:13 Or, raised up
  46. Isaiah 23:15 Or, shall Tyre sing as a harlot
  47. Isaiah 23:18 Or, stately
  48. Isaiah 24:1 Or, land (and so in verses 3, 4, etc.)
  49. Isaiah 24:4 Or, the high ones of the people
  50. Isaiah 24:11 Hebrew gone into captivity.
  51. Isaiah 24:13 Hebrew beating.
  52. Isaiah 24:15 Or, lights. Or, fires
  53. Isaiah 24:15 Or, coast-lands
  54. Isaiah 24:16 Hebrew Leanness to me.
  55. Isaiah 24:21 Hebrew visit upon.
  56. Isaiah 24:21 Hebrew height.
  57. Isaiah 24:22 Or, dungeon
  58. Isaiah 24:22 Or, punished