1901 American Standard Version (ASV)

Isaiah 21

1 The prophet, bewailing the captivity of his people, seeth in a vision the fall of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. 11 Edom, scorning the prophet, is moved to repentance. 13 The set time of Arabia's calamity.

 21:1 ¶ The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land.

 21:2 A 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 have I made to cease.

 21:3 Therefore are my loins filled with anguish; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail: I am pained so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

 21:4 My heart fluttereth, horror hath affrighted me; the twilight that I desired hath been turned into trembling unto me.

 21:5 They prepare the table, they set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.

 21:6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman: let him declare what he seeth:

 21:7 and when he seeth a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of asses, a troop of camels, he shall hearken diligently with much heed.

 21:8 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 whole nights;

 21:9 and, behold, here cometh a troop of men, 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.

 21:10 O thou my threshing, and the grain of my floor! that which I have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

 21:11 ¶ The burden of Dumah. One calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

 21:12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: turn ye, come.

 21:13 ¶ The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye caravans of Dedanites.

 21:14 Unto him that was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.

 21:15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.

 21:16 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;

 21:17 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.