This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookout(A)
    and have him report what he sees.
When he sees chariots(B)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,(C)
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”

And the lookout[a](D) shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
Look, here comes a man in a chariot(E)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon(F) has fallen,(G) has fallen!
All the images of its gods(H)
    lie shattered(I) on the ground!’”

10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,(J)
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.

A Prophecy Against Edom

11 A prophecy against Dumah[b]:(K)

Someone calls to me from Seir,(L)
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion
  2. Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.

For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:

And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:

And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

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10 Israel’s watchmen(A) are blind,
    they all lack knowledge;(B)
they are all mute dogs,
    they cannot bark;
they lie around and dream,
    they love to sleep.(C)

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10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

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17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman(A) for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.(B)

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17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

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“Son of man, I have made you a watchman(A) for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.(B)

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So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

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