Isaiah 21-24
New American Standard Bible
God Commands That Babylon Be Taken
21 The (A)pronouncement concerning the [a](B)wilderness of the sea:
As (C)windstorms in the [b]Negev come in turns,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
2 A (D)harsh vision has been shown to me;
The (E)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, (F)Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have put an end to all [c]the groaning she has caused.
3 For this reason my (G)loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a (H)woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
4 My [d]mind reels, [e]horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been (I)turned into trembling for me.
5 They (J)set the table, they [f]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields!”
6 For this is what the Lord says to me:
“Go, station the lookout, have him (K)report what he sees.
7 When he sees [g]a (L)column of chariots, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
He is to pay close attention, very close attention.”
8 Then [h]the lookout called,
“(M)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 said, “(N)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the (O)images of her gods [i]are shattered on the ground.”
10 My (P)downtrodden people, and my [j]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.
Pronouncements about Edom and Arabia
11 The pronouncement concerning [k](Q)Edom:
One keeps calling to me from (R)Seir,
“Watchman, [l]how far gone is the night?
Watchman, [m]how far gone is the night?”
12 The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”
13 The pronouncement about (S)Arabia:
In the thickets of Arabia you [n]must spend the night,
You caravans of (T)Dedanites.
14 Bring water [o]for the thirsty,
You inhabitants of the land of (U)Tema;
Meet the fugitive with bread.
15 For they have (V)fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow,
And from the press of battle.
16 For this is what the Lord said to me: “In a (W)year, as [p]a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of (X)Kedar will come to an end; 17 and the (Y)remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel (Z)has spoken.”
The Valley of Vision
22 The pronouncement concerning the (AA)valley of vision:
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the (AB)housetops?
2 You who were full of noise,
You tumultuous town, you (AC)jubilant city;
Your dead were (AD)not killed with the sword,
Nor [q]did they die in battle.
3 (AE)All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured [r]without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
[s]Though they had fled far away.
4 Therefore I say, “Look away from me,
Let me (AF)weep bitterly,
Do not [t]try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 (AG)For the Lord [u]God of armies has a (AH)day of panic, (AI)subjugation, and confusion
(AJ)In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying [v]to the mountain.
6 (AK)Elam picked up the quiver,
With the chariots, [w]infantry, and horsemen;
And (AL)Kir uncovered the shield.
7 Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took positions at the gate.
8 And He removed the [x]defense of Judah.
On that day you [y]depended on the weapons of the (AM)house of the forest,
9 And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you (AN)collected the waters of the lower pool.
10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And you made a reservoir (AO)between the two walls
For the waters of the (AP)old pool.
But you did not [z]depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you [aa]take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
12 Therefore on that day the Lord [ab]God of armies called you to (AQ)weeping, to wailing,
To (AR)shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.
13 Instead, there is (AS)joy and jubilation,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
“(AT)Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14 But the Lord of armies revealed Himself [ac]to me:
“Certainly this (AU)wrongdoing (AV)will not be [ad]forgiven you
(AW)Until you die,” says the Lord [ae]God of armies.
15 This is what the Lord [af]God of armies says:
“Come, go to this steward,
To (AX)Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,
16 ‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have (AY)cut out a tomb for yourself here,
You who cut out a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for [ag]yourself in the rock?
17 Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you violently, you strong man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18 And wrap you up tightly like a ball,
To be (AZ)driven 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 (BA)depose you from your office,
And [ah]I will pull you down from your position.
20 Then it will come about on that day,
That I will summon My servant (BB)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21 And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will hand your [ai]authority over to him,
And he will become a (BC)father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 Then I will put (BD)the key of the (BE)house of David on his shoulder;
When he opens, no one will shut,
When he shuts, no one will (BF)open.
23 I will drive him like a (BG)peg in a firm place,
And he will become a (BH)throne of glory to his father’s house.
24 So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the [aj]descendants, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. 25 On that day,” declares the Lord of armies, “the (BI)peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will even (BJ)break off and fall, and the load that is hanging on it will be cut off, for the (BK)Lord has spoken.”
The Fall of Tyre
23 The pronouncement concerning (BL)Tyre:
Wail, you (BM)ships of (BN)Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or [ak](BO)harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of [al](BP)Cyprus.
2 (BQ)Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
[am]Your messengers crossed the sea
3 And were on many waters.
(BR)The grain of the [an](BS)Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
And she was the (BT)market of nations.
4 Be ashamed, (BU)Sidon,
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth,
I have neither brought up young men nor raised virgins.”
5 When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in (BV)anguish over the report of Tyre.
6 Pass over to (BW)Tarshish;
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland.
7 Is this your (BX)jubilant city,
Whose origin is from antiquity,
Whose feet used to bring her to [ao]colonize distant places?
8 Who has planned this against Tyre, (BY)the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9 (BZ)The Lord of armies has planned it, to (CA)defile the pride of all beauty,
To despise all the (CB)honored of the earth.
10 [ap]Overflow your land like the Nile, you daughter of Tarshish,
There is no more [aq]restraint.
11 He has (CC)stretched His hand out (CD)over the sea,
He has (CE)made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to (CF)demolish its strongholds.
12 He has said, “(CG)You shall not be jubilant anymore, you crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to [ar](CH)Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that did not exist; (CI)Assyria allocated it for (CJ)desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, (CK)they made it a ruin.
14 Wail, you (CL)ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is destroyed.
15 Now on that day Tyre will be forgotten for (CM)seventy years like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
16 Take your harp, wander around the city,
You forgotten prostitute;
Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.
17 It will come about at (CN)the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her prostitute’s wages and (CO)commit prostitution with all the kingdoms [as]on the face of the earth. 18 Her (CP)profit and her prostitute’s wages will be (CQ)sacred to the Lord; it will not be stored up or hoarded, but her profit will become sufficient food and magnificent attire for those who dwell in the presence of the Lord.
Judgment on the Earth
24 Behold, the Lord (CR)lays the earth waste, devastates it, twists its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. 2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the female servant like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the (CS)creditor like the debtor. 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The (CT)earth dries up and crumbles away, the mainland dries out and crumbles away, the (CU)exalted of the people of the earth dwindle. 5 The earth is also (CV)defiled [at]by its inhabitants, for they violated laws, altered statutes, and (CW)broke the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a (CX)curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer for their guilt. Therefore, the (CY)inhabitants of the earth decrease in number, and few people are left.
7 The (CZ)new wine mourns,
The vine decays,
All the joyful-hearted sigh.
8 The (DA)joy of tambourines ceases,
The noise of revelers stops,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9 They do not drink wine with song;
(DB)Intoxicating drink is (DC)bitter to those who drink it.
10 The (DD)city of chaos is broken down;
(DE)Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11 There is an (DF)outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
(DG)All joy [au]turns to gloom.
The joy of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city
And the (DH)gate is battered to ruins.
13 For (DI)so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the [av]shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.
14 (DJ)They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They cry out from the [aw]west concerning the majesty of the Lord.
15 Therefore (DK)glorify the Lord in the [ax]east,
The (DL)name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
In the [ay](DM)coastlands of the sea.
16 From the (DN)ends of the earth we hear songs: “(DO)Glory to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “[az]I am finished! I am finished! Woe to me!
The (DP)treacherous deal treacherously,
And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17 (DQ)Terror and pit and snare
[ba]Confront you, you inhabitant of the earth.
18 Then it will be that the one who flees the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And the one who [bb]climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
For the (DR)windows [bc]above are opened, and the (DS)foundations of the earth shake.
19 (DT)The earth is broken apart,
The earth is (DU)split through,
The earth is shaken violently.
20 The earth (DV)trembles like a heavy drinker
And sways like a hut,
For its (DW)wrongdoing is heavy upon it,
And it will fall, (DX)never to rise again.
21 So it will happen on that day,
That the Lord will (DY)punish the rebellious [bd](DZ)angels of [be]heaven on high,
And the (EA)kings of the earth on earth.
22 They will be gathered together
Like (EB)prisoners in the [bf]dungeon,
And will be confined in prison;
And after many days they will (EC)be punished.
23 Then the (ED)moon will be ashamed and the sun be put to shame,
For the (EE)Lord of armies will reign on (EF)Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory will be before His elders.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:1 Or sandy wastes, sea country
- Isaiah 21:1 I.e., South country
- Isaiah 21:2 Lit her groaning
- Isaiah 21:4 Lit heart has wandered
- Isaiah 21:4 Lit shuddering
- Isaiah 21:5 Or spread out the rugs or possibly they arranged the seating
- Isaiah 21:7 Or riders
- Isaiah 21:8 As in DSS; MT he called like a lion
- Isaiah 21:9 Lit he has shattered to the earth
- Isaiah 21:10 Lit son
- Isaiah 21:11 As in LXX; MT Dumah, silence
- Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
- Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
- Isaiah 21:13 Or will spend
- Isaiah 21:14 Lit to meet
- Isaiah 21:16 Lit the years of a hired
- Isaiah 22:2 Lit dead in battle
- Isaiah 22:3 Lit from a bow
- Isaiah 22:3 As in ancient versions; MT They fled far away
- Isaiah 22:4 Lit insist
- Isaiah 22:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 22:5 Or against
- Isaiah 22:6 Lit man
- Isaiah 22:8 Lit covering
- Isaiah 22:8 Lit looked to
- Isaiah 22:11 Or look to, consider
- Isaiah 22:11 Lit see Him
- Isaiah 22:12 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 22:14 Lit in my ears
- Isaiah 22:14 Lit atoned for
- Isaiah 22:14 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 22:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 22:16 Lit himself
- Isaiah 22:19 As in many ancient versions; MT He
- Isaiah 22:21 Lit dominion
- Isaiah 22:24 Or perhaps, leaf
- Isaiah 23:1 Lit entering
- Isaiah 23:1 Heb Kittim
- Isaiah 23:2 As in DSS; MT Who passed over the sea, they replenished you
- Isaiah 23:3 Heb Shihor
- Isaiah 23:7 Lit sojourn afar off
- Isaiah 23:10 Lit Pass over
- Isaiah 23:10 Perhaps girdle or shipyard
- Isaiah 23:12 Heb Kittim
- Isaiah 23:17 Lit of the earth on the face of the land
- Isaiah 24:5 Lit under
- Isaiah 24:11 Lit is darkened
- Isaiah 24:13 Lit striking
- Isaiah 24:14 Lit sea
- Isaiah 24:15 Lit region of light
- Isaiah 24:15 Or islands
- Isaiah 24:16 Meaning uncertain
- Isaiah 24:17 Lit Are upon you
- Isaiah 24:18 Lit goes up from the midst of
- Isaiah 24:18 Lit from the height; i.e., heaven
- Isaiah 24:21 Lit host
- Isaiah 24:21 Lit the height in the height
- Isaiah 24:22 Lit pit
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
