Isaiah 21:1-10

1The 12oracle concerning the 34wilderness of the sea. As 5windstorms in the 6Negev sweep on, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.2A 7harsh vision has been shown to me; The 8treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, 9Elam, lay siege, Media; I have made an end of all 10the groaning she has caused.3For this reason my 11loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a 12woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.4My 13mind reels, 14horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been 15turned for me into trembling.5They 16set the table, they 17spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains, oil the shields,” 6For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him 18report what he sees.7When he sees 19riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention.” 8Then 20the lookout called, “21O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.9Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “22Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the 23images of her gods 24are shattered on the ground.”10O my 25threshed people, and my 26afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the Lord of hosts, The God of Israel, I make known to you.