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Isaiah 21-24
The Message
Isaiah 21-24
The Message
The Betrayer Betrayed
21 1-4 A Message concerning the desert at the sea:
As tempests drive through the Negev Desert,
coming out of the desert, that terror-filled place,
A hard vision is given me:
The betrayer betrayed, the plunderer plundered.
Attack, Elam!
Lay siege, Media!
Persians, attack!
Attack, Babylon!
I’ll put an end to
all the moaning and groaning.
Because of this news I’m doubled up in pain,
writhing in pain like a woman having a baby,
Baffled by what I hear,
undone by what I see.
Absolutely stunned,
horror-stricken,
I had hoped for a relaxed evening,
but it has turned into a nightmare.
5 The banquet is spread,
the guests reclining in luxurious ease,
Eating and drinking, having a good time,
and then, “To arms, princes! The fight is on!”
6-9 The Master told me, “Go, post a lookout.
Have him report whatever he spots.
When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation,
lines of donkeys and columns of camels,
Tell him to keep his ear to the ground,
note every whisper, every rumor.”
Just then, the lookout shouted,
“I’m at my post, Master,
Sticking to my post day after day
and all through the night!
I watched them come,
the horses and wagons in battle formation.
I heard them call out the war news in headlines:
‘Babylon fallen! Fallen!
And all its precious god-idols
smashed to pieces on the ground.’”
10 Dear Israel, you’ve been through a lot,
you’ve been put through the mill.
The good news I get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the God of Israel, I now pass on to you.
* * *
11-12 A Message concerning Edom:
A voice calls to me
from the Seir mountains in Edom,
“Night watchman! How long till daybreak?
How long will this night last?”
The night watchman calls back,
“Morning’s coming,
But for now it’s still night.
If you ask me again, I’ll give the same answer.”
* * *
13-15 A Message concerning Arabia:
You’ll have to camp out in the desert badlands,
you caravans of Dedanites.
Haul water to the thirsty,
greet fugitives with bread.
Show your desert hospitality,
you who live in Tema.
The desert’s swarming with refugees
escaping the horrors of war.
16-17 The Master told me, “Hang on. Within one year—I’ll sign a contract on it!—the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over, nothing much left of the Kedar toughs.” The God of Israel says so.
A Country of Cowards
22 1-3 A Message concerning the Valley of Vision:
What’s going on here anyway?
All this partying and noisemaking,
Shouting and cheering in the streets,
the city noisy with celebrations!
You have no brave soldiers to honor,
no combat heroes to be proud of.
Your leaders were all cowards,
captured without even lifting a sword,
A country of cowards
captured escaping the battle.
You Looked, but You Never Looked to Him
4-8 In the midst of the shouting, I said, “Let me alone.
Let me grieve by myself.
Don’t tell me it’s going to be all right.
These people are doomed. It’s not all right.”
For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
is bringing a day noisy with mobs of people,
Jostling and stampeding in the Valley of Vision,
knocking down walls
and hollering to the mountains, “Attack! Attack!”
Old enemies Elam and Kir arrive armed to the teeth—
weapons and chariots and cavalry.
Your fine valleys are noisy with war,
chariots and cavalry charging this way and that.
God has left Judah exposed and defenseless.
8-11 You assessed your defenses that Day, inspected your arsenal of weapons in the Forest Armory. You found the weak places in the city walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool. You took an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the city wall. You built a large cistern to ensure plenty of water.
You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city, never once consulted the One who has long had plans for this city.
12-13 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
called out on that Day,
Called for a day of repentant tears,
called you to dress in somber clothes of mourning.
But what do you do? You throw a party!
Eating and drinking and dancing in the streets!
You barbecue bulls and sheep, and throw a huge feast—
slabs of meat, kegs of beer.
“Seize the day! Eat and drink!
Tomorrow we die!”
14 God-of-the-Angel-Armies whispered to me his verdict on this frivolity: “You’ll pay for this outrage until the day you die.” The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says so.
The Key of the Davidic Heritage
15-19 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, spoke: “Come. Go to this steward, Shebna, who is in charge of all the king’s affairs, and tell him: What’s going on here? You’re an outsider here and yet you act like you own the place, make a big, fancy tomb for yourself where everyone can see it, making sure everyone will think you’re important. God is about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He’ll grab you by the hair, swing you round and round dizzyingly, and then let you go, sailing through the air like a ball, until you’re out of sight. Where you’ll land, nobody knows. And there you’ll die, and all the stuff you’ve collected heaped on your grave. You’ve disgraced your master’s house! You’re fired—and good riddance!
20-24 “On that Day I’ll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I’ll dress him in your robe. I’ll put your belt on him. I’ll give him your authority. He’ll be a father-leader to Jerusalem and the government of Judah. I’ll give him the key of the Davidic heritage. He’ll have the run of the place—open any door and keep it open, lock any door and keep it locked. I’ll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He’ll secure the Davidic tradition. Everything will hang on him—not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.
25 “And then the Day will come,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies, “when that nail will come loose and fall out, break loose from that solid wall—and everything hanging on it will go with it.” That’s what will happen. God says so.
It Was All Numbers, Dead Numbers, Profit and Loss
23 1-4 Wail, ships of Tarshish,
your strong seaports all in ruins!
When the ships returned from Cyprus,
they saw the destruction.
Hold your tongue, you who live on the seacoast,
merchants of Sidon.
Your people sailed the deep seas,
buying and selling,
Making money on wheat from Shihor,
grown along the Nile—
multinational broker in grains!
Hang your head in shame, Sidon. The Sea speaks up,
the powerhouse of the ocean says,
“I’ve never had labor pains, never had a baby,
never reared children to adulthood,
Never gave life, never worked with life.
It was all numbers, dead numbers, profit and loss.”
5 When Egypt gets the report on Tyre,
what wailing! what wringing of hands!
Nothing Left Here to Be Proud Of
6-12 Visit Tarshish, you who live on the seacoast.
Take a good, long look and wail—yes, cry buckets of tears!
Is this the city you remember as energetic and alive,
bustling with activity, this historic old city,
Expanding throughout the globe,
buying and selling all over the world?
And who is behind the collapse of Tyre,
the Tyre that controlled the world markets?
Tyre’s merchants were the business tycoons.
Tyre’s traders called all the shots.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies ordered the crash
to show the sordid backside of pride
and puncture the inflated reputations.
Sail for home, O ships of Tarshish.
There are no docks left in this harbor.
God reached out to the sea and sea traders,
threw the sea kingdoms into turmoil.
God ordered the destruction
of the seacoast cities, the centers of commerce.
God said, “There’s nothing left here to be proud of,
bankrupt and bereft Sidon.
Do you want to make a new start in Cyprus?
Don’t count on it. Nothing there will work out for you either.”
13 Look at what happened to Babylon: There’s nothing left of it. Assyria turned it into a desert, into a refuge for wild dogs and stray cats. They brought in their big siege engines, tore down the buildings, and left nothing behind but rubble.
14 Wail, ships of Tarshish,
your strong seaports all in ruins!
* * *
15-16 For the next seventy years, a king’s lifetime, Tyre will be forgotten. At the end of the seventy years, Tyre will stage a comeback, but it will be the comeback of a worn-out whore, as in the song:
“Take a harp, circle the city,
unremembered whore.
Sing your old songs, your many old songs.
Maybe someone will remember.”
17-18 At the end of the seventy years, God will look in on Tyre. She’ll go back to her old whoring trade, selling herself to the highest bidder, doing anything with anyone—promiscuous with all the kingdoms of earth—for a fee. But everything she gets, all the money she takes in, will be turned over to God. It will not be put in banks. Her profits will be put to the use of God-Aware, God-Serving-People, providing plenty of food and the best of clothing.
The Landscape Will Be a Moonscape
24 1-3 Danger ahead! God’s about to ravish the earth
and leave it in ruins,
Rip everything out by the roots
and send everyone scurrying:
priests and laypeople alike,
owners and workers alike,
celebrities and nobodies alike,
buyers and sellers alike,
bankers and beggars alike,
the haves and have-nots alike.
The landscape will be a moonscape,
totally wasted.
And why? Because God says so.
He’s issued the orders.
4 The earth turns gaunt and gray,
the world silent and sad,
sky and land lifeless, colorless.
Earth Polluted by Its Very Own People
5-13 Earth is polluted by its very own people,
who have broken its laws,
Disrupted its order,
violated the sacred and eternal covenant.
Therefore a curse, like a cancer,
ravages the earth.
Its people pay the price of their sacrilege.
They dwindle away, dying out one by one.
No more wine, no more vineyards,
no more songs or singers.
The laughter of castanets is gone,
the shouts of celebrants, gone,
the laughter of fiddles, gone.
No more parties with toasts of champagne.
Serious drinkers gag on their drinks.
The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns.
Every house is boarded up, condemned.
People riot in the streets for wine,
but the good times are gone forever—
no more joy for this old world.
The city is dead and deserted,
bulldozed into piles of rubble.
That’s the way it will be on this earth.
This is the fate of all nations:
An olive tree shaken clean of its olives,
a grapevine picked clean of its grapes.
14-16 But there are some who will break into glad song.
Out of the west they’ll shout of God’s majesty.
Yes, from the east God’s glory will ascend.
Every island of the sea
Will broadcast God’s fame,
the fame of the God of Israel.
From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing:
“All praise to the Righteous One!”
16-20 But I said, “That’s all well and good for somebody,
but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom.”
All of them at one another’s throats,
yes, all of them at one another’s throats.
Terror and pits and booby traps
are everywhere, whoever you are.
If you run from the terror,
you’ll fall into the pit.
If you climb out of the pit,
you’ll get caught in the trap.
Chaos pours out of the skies.
The foundations of earth are crumbling.
Earth is smashed to pieces,
earth is ripped to shreds,
earth is wobbling out of control,
Earth staggers like a drunk,
sways like a shack in a high wind.
Its piled-up sins are too much for it.
It collapses and won’t get up again.
21-23 That’s when God will call on the carpet
rebel powers in the skies and
Rebel kings on earth.
They’ll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail,
Corralled and locked up in a jail,
and then sentenced and put to hard labor.
Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated,
red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced,
Because God-of-the-Angel-Armies will take over,
ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem,
Splendid and glorious
before all his leaders.
Isaiah 21-24
New International Version
Isaiah 21-24
New International Version
A Prophecy Against Babylon
21 A prophecy(A) against the Desert(B) by the Sea:
Like whirlwinds(C) sweeping through the southland,(D)
an invader comes from the desert,
from a land of terror.
2 A dire(E) vision has been shown to me:
The traitor betrays,(F) the looter takes loot.
Elam,(G) attack! Media,(H) lay siege!
I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
3 At this my body is racked with pain,(I)
pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;(J)
I am staggered by what I hear,
I am bewildered(K) by what I see.
4 My heart(L) falters,
fear makes me tremble;(M)
the twilight I longed for
has become a horror(N) to me.
5 They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink!(O)
Get up, you officers,
oil the shields!(P)
6 This is what the Lord says to me:
“Go, post a lookout(Q)
and have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots(R)
with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
or riders on camels,(S)
let him be alert,
fully alert.”
8 And the lookout[a](T) shouted,
“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
every night I stay at my post.
9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot(U)
with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
‘Babylon(V) has fallen,(W) has fallen!
All the images of its gods(X)
lie shattered(Y) on the ground!’”
10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,(Z)
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]:(AA)
Someone calls to me from Seir,(AB)
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
and come back yet again.”
A Prophecy Against Arabia
13 A prophecy(AC) against Arabia:(AD)
You caravans of Dedanites,(AE)
who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
14 bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,(AF)
bring food for the fugitives.
15 They flee(AG) from the sword,(AH)
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
and from the heat of battle.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract(AI) would count it, all the splendor(AJ) of Kedar(AK) will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.(AL)” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.(AM)
A Prophecy About Jerusalem
22 A prophecy(AN) against the Valley(AO) of Vision:(AP)
What troubles you now,
that you have all gone up on the roofs,(AQ)
2 you town so full of commotion,
you city of tumult(AR) and revelry?(AS)
Your slain(AT) were not killed by the sword,(AU)
nor did they die in battle.
3 All your leaders have fled(AV) together;
they have been captured(AW) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
having fled while the enemy was still far away.
4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
let me weep(AX) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
over the destruction of my people.”(AY)
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day(AZ)
of tumult and trampling(BA) and terror(BB)
in the Valley of Vision,(BC)
a day of battering down walls(BD)
and of crying out to the mountains.
6 Elam(BE) takes up the quiver,(BF)
with her charioteers and horses;
Kir(BG) uncovers the shield.
7 Your choicest valleys(BH) are full of chariots,
and horsemen are posted at the city gates.(BI)
8 The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
and you looked in that day(BJ)
to the weapons(BK) in the Palace of the Forest.(BL)
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
were broken through(BM) in many places;
you stored up water
in the Lower Pool.(BN)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
and tore down houses(BO) to strengthen the wall.(BP)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls(BQ)
for the water of the Old Pool,(BR)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
or have regard(BS) for the One who planned(BT) it long ago.
12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
called you on that day(BU)
to weep(BV) and to wail,
to tear out your hair(BW) and put on sackcloth.(BX)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,(BY)
slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
eating of meat and drinking of wine!(BZ)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
“for tomorrow we die!”(CA)
14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:(CB) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned(CC) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
“Go, say to this steward,
to Shebna(CD) the palace(CE) administrator:(CF)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
to cut out a grave(CG) for yourself(CH) here,
hewing your grave on the height
and chiseling your resting place in the rock?
17 “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
and hurl(CI) you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
and throw(CJ) you into a large country.
There you will die
and there the chariots(CK) you were so proud of
will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
and you will be ousted(CL) from your position.(CM)
20 “In that day(CN) I will summon my servant,(CO) Eliakim(CP) son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash(CQ) around him and hand your authority(CR) over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder(CS) the key(CT) to the house of David;(CU) what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.(CV) 23 I will drive him like a peg(CW) into a firm place;(CX) he will become a seat[c] of honor(CY) for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
25 “In that day,(CZ)” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg(DA) driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.(DB)
A Prophecy Against Tyre
23 A prophecy against Tyre:(DC)
Wail,(DD) you ships(DE) of Tarshish!(DF)
For Tyre is destroyed(DG)
and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
word has come to them.
2 Be silent,(DH) you people of the island
and you merchants(DI) of Sidon,(DJ)
whom the seafarers have enriched.
3 On the great waters
came the grain of the Shihor;(DK)
the harvest of the Nile[d](DL) was the revenue of Tyre,(DM)
and she became the marketplace of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, Sidon,(DN) and you fortress of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;(DO)
I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
5 When word comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish(DP) at the report from Tyre.(DQ)
6 Cross over to Tarshish;(DR)
wail, you people of the island.
7 Is this your city of revelry,(DS)
the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
to settle in far-off lands?
8 Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants(DT) are princes,
whose traders(DU) are renowned in the earth?
9 The Lord Almighty planned(DV) it,
to bring down(DW) her pride in all her splendor
and to humble(DX) all who are renowned(DY) on the earth.
10 Till[e] your land as they do along the Nile,
Daughter Tarshish,
for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand(DZ) over the sea
and made its kingdoms tremble.(EA)
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
that her fortresses be destroyed.(EB)
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,(EC)
Virgin Daughter(ED) Sidon, now crushed!
“Up, cross over to Cyprus;(EE)
even there you will find no rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[f](EF)
this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians(EG) have made it
a place for desert creatures;(EH)
they raised up their siege towers,(EI)
they stripped its fortresses bare
and turned it into a ruin.(EJ)
15 At that time Tyre(EN) will be forgotten for seventy years,(EO) the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
you forgotten prostitute;(EP)
play the harp well, sing many a song,
so that you will be remembered.”
17 At the end of seventy years,(EQ) the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution(ER) and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.(ES) 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord;(ET) they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord,(EU) for abundant food and fine clothes.(EV)
The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth
24 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth(EW)
and devastate(EX) it;
he will ruin its face
and scatter(EY) its inhabitants—
2 it will be the same
for priest as for people,(EZ)
for the master as for his servant,
for the mistress as for her servant,
for seller as for buyer,(FA)
for borrower as for lender,
for debtor as for creditor.(FB)
3 The earth will be completely laid waste(FC)
and totally plundered.(FD)
The Lord has spoken(FE) this word.
4 The earth dries up(FF) and withers,(FG)
the world languishes and withers,
the heavens(FH) languish with the earth.(FI)
5 The earth is defiled(FJ) by its people;
they have disobeyed(FK) the laws,
violated the statutes
and broken the everlasting covenant.(FL)
6 Therefore a curse(FM) consumes the earth;
its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,(FN)
and very few are left.
7 The new wine dries up(FO) and the vine withers;(FP)
all the merrymakers groan.(FQ)
8 The joyful timbrels(FR) are stilled,
the noise(FS) of the revelers(FT) has stopped,
the joyful harp(FU) is silent.(FV)
9 No longer do they drink wine(FW) with a song;
the beer is bitter(FX) to its drinkers.
10 The ruined city(FY) lies desolate;(FZ)
the entrance to every house is barred.
11 In the streets they cry out(GA) for wine;(GB)
all joy turns to gloom,(GC)
all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.
12 The city is left in ruins,(GD)
its gate(GE) is battered to pieces.
13 So will it be on the earth
and among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,(GF)
or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.(GG)
14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy;(GH)
from the west(GI) they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.
15 Therefore in the east(GJ) give glory(GK) to the Lord;
exalt(GL) the name(GM) of the Lord, the God of Israel,
in the islands(GN) of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth(GO) we hear singing:(GP)
“Glory(GQ) to the Righteous One.”(GR)
But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!(GS)
Woe(GT) to me!
The treacherous(GU) betray!
With treachery the treacherous betray!(GV)”
17 Terror(GW) and pit and snare(GX) await you,
people of the earth.(GY)
18 Whoever flees(GZ) at the sound of terror
will fall into a pit;(HA)
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare.(HB)
The floodgates of the heavens(HC) are opened,
the foundations of the earth shake.(HD)
19 The earth is broken up,(HE)
the earth is split asunder,(HF)
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth reels like a drunkard,(HG)
it sways like a hut(HH) in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion(HI)
that it falls(HJ)—never to rise again.(HK)
21 In that day(HL) the Lord will punish(HM)
the powers(HN) in the heavens above
and the kings(HO) on the earth below.
22 They will be herded together
like prisoners(HP) bound in a dungeon;(HQ)
they will be shut up in prison
and be punished[g] after many days.(HR)
23 The moon will be dismayed,
the sun(HS) ashamed;
for the Lord Almighty will reign(HT)
on Mount Zion(HU) and in Jerusalem,
and before its elders—with great glory.(HV)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion
- Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.
- Isaiah 22:23 Or throne
- Isaiah 23:3 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls Sidon, / who cross over the sea; / your envoys 3 are on the great waters. / The grain of the Shihor, / the harvest of the Nile,
- Isaiah 23:10 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text Go through
- Isaiah 23:13 Or Chaldeans
- Isaiah 24:22 Or released
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.