Isaiah 21:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 21
Fall of Babylon[a]
1 Oracle on the wastelands by the sea:[b]
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negeb,
it comes from the desert,
from the fearful land.(A)
2 A harsh vision has been announced to me:
“The traitor betrays,
the despoiler spoils.(B)
Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media;[c]
put an end to all its groaning!”(C)
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish,
pangs have seized me like those of a woman in labor;
I am too bewildered to hear,
too dismayed to look.(D)
Footnotes
- 21:1–10 This oracle against Babylon is probably to be dated to the period just before the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C. (v. 9).
- 21:1 Wastelands by the sea: Babylonia. Negeb: the wilderness south of Judah.
- 21:2 Elam…Media: nations which, under the leadership of Cyrus, captured Babylon in 539 B.C. End to all its groaning: those who were captive of Babylon will be freed.
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