Isaiah 21:3

Isaiah 21:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
• New International Version (NIV)At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.

Context of Isaiah 21:3

1This is a message about the desert near the sea. Trouble is coming from the desert, like a strong wind that blows from the south. It comes from a land of great fear. 2The Lord showed me a vision of terrible things. ‘People are deceiving one another! People are destroying one another! Elam, go to attack Babylon! People from Media, attack all round the city! I will stop all the tears that Babylon's armies have caused.’ Because of that vision, I am very upset. Bad pains attack me, like the pains of a woman who is giving birth. My body hurts because of the things that I have heard. I am afraid to look! 4It confuses my mind. I shake with fear. I wanted a quiet evening, but instead there is terror. 5Look! They are preparing a feast. They put down carpets for people to sit on. They are eating and they are drinking. Officers, stand up! Make your shields ready for battle!

Isaiah 21:3 word by word

עַל־כֵּ֗ן מָלְא֤וּ מָתְנַי֙ חַלְחָלָ֔ה צִירִ֣ים אֲחָז֔וּנִי כְּצִירֵ֖י יֽוֹלֵדָ֑ה נַעֲוֵ֣יתִי מִשְּׁמֹ֔עַ נִבְהַ֖לְתִּי מֵרְאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Therefore are my loinsמׇתְנַ֫יִםmôthen · loinH4975
• filledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• with painחַלְחָלָהchalchâlâh · anguishH2479
• pangsצִירtsîyr · pangH6735
• have taken holdאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
• of a woman that travailethיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• I was bowed downעָוָה‛âvâh · to twistH5753
• at the hearingשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• I was dismayedבָּהַלbâhal · to dismayH926
• at the seeingרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200

Cross-references for Isaiah 21:3

• Isaiah 15:5I am very upset because of what is happening to Moab's people. They are running away, as far as Zoar and Eglath-Shelishiyah. They weep while they climb up the hill to Luhith. On the road to Horonaim they shout aloud, ‘An enemy has destroyed us!’
• Isaiah 16:9Because of that, I weep for the vines of Sibmah, as Jazer weeps. I pour out my tears all over you, Heshbon and Elealeh. Your people no longer sing because they are happy at harvest time. There is no more fruit on your trees or crops in your fields.
• Habakkuk 3:16I listened to this and I was very afraid. My lips shook with fear when I heard the sound. My bones became weak. My legs would not let me walk. But I will be patient. I will wait for the day of trouble that will come. Yes, punishment will come to the people who are attacking us.
• Isaiah 13:8They will be very afraid. Their bodies will hurt with great pain, like a woman who is giving birth. They will look at each other, as their faces show fear and pain.
• Isaiah 26:17Because of your punishment, Lord, we had much pain. We were like a woman who is giving birth and she cries out with pain.
• Psalms 48:6They cannot stop themselves shaking, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby!
• Jeremiah 48:41The enemy will take Moab's towns and its strong buildings. Moab's soldiers will be afraid, like a woman who will soon give birth.
• Jeremiah 49:22A nation will rise up high, like an eagle in the sky. It will fly down to catch its food in Bozrah! When the brave soldiers of Edom see that, they will become very afraid. They will be afraid, like a woman who will soon give birth.’
• Jeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard news about them, and he is very afraid. He feels too weak to fight. He feels pain like a woman who is giving birth.
• Micah 4:9You people in Jerusalem, you are crying aloud like people who have no king. You cry like people who have no wise leader. You have bad pains like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3At that time, people will be saying, ‘We are safe and there is no trouble for us.’ But then, when they are not ready for it, great punishment will suddenly happen to them. It will be impossible for them to run away. Pain will suddenly come to them, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
• Deuteronomy 28:67Every morning you will say, ‘I want the night to come quickly!’ And every evening you will say, ‘I want the morning to come quickly!’ You will say that because of all the terrible things that you see.
• Daniel 5:5While they were doing that, the fingers of a human hand appeared. They wrote on the wall of the king's palace, near the light that stood in the room. The king watched the hand while it wrote.

Commentaries on Isaiah 21:3

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Therefore - In this verse, and the following, the prophet represents himself as “in” Babylon, and as a witness of the calamities which would come upon the city. He describes the sympathy which he feels in her sorrows, and represents himself as deeply affected by her calamities. A similar description occurred in the pain which the prophet represents himself as enduring on account of the calamities of Moab (see Isaiah 15:5, note; Isaiah 16:11, note). My…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see: Through his vision, Isaiah felt the fear of the Babylonian people (see also Daniel 8:27; 10:16–17).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Isaiah imagines himself among the exiles in Babylon and cannot help feeling moved by the calamities which come on it. So for Moab (Is 15:5; 16:11). pain--(Compare Is 13:8; Eze 30:4, 19; Na 2:10). at the hearing--The Hebrew may mean, "I was so bowed down that I could not hear; I was so dismayed that I could not see" (Ge 16:2; Psa 69:23) [Maurer].Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 21:3

• Babylon
• Birth
• Isaiah
• Persia

In the dictionaries

• Anoint
• Cornfloor
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Hezekiah (2)
• Isaiah
• Loins
• Pain
• Babel

Commentaries on Isaiah 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings