THE burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
3 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.
4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:
8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come.
13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:
17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it.

1The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlewinds in the South passe thorough; so it commeth from the desert, from a terrible land.

2A grieuous vision is declared vnto me; The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth: Goe, vp O Elam: besiege, O Media: all the sighing thereof haue I made to cease.

3Therefore are my loynes filled with paine, pangs haue taken hold vpon me, as the pangs of a woman that trauelleth: I was bowed downe at the hearing of it, I was dismayed at the seeing of it.

4My heart panted, fearefulnesse affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into feare vnto me.

5Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower, eate, drinke: arise yee princes, and anoint the shield.

6For thus hath the Lord sayd vnto me; Goe, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

7And he saw a charet with a couple of horsemen, a charet of asses, and a charet of camels; and hee hearkened diligently with much heede.

8And he cryed; A lyon: my Lord, I stand continually vpon the watch-tower in the day time, and I am set in my ward whole nights.

9And behold, heere commeth a charet of men with a couple of horsemen: and he answered and sayd; Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the grauen images of her Gods he hath broken vnto the ground.

10O my threshing and the corne of my floore: that which I haue heard of the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, haue I declared vnto you.

11 The burden of Dumah. Hee calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

12The watchman sayd; The morning commeth, and also the night: if yee will enquire, enquire yee: returne, come.

13 The burden vpon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall yee lodge, O yee trauelling companies of Dedanim.

14The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they preuented with their bread him that fled.

15For they fled from the swords, from the drawen sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grieuousnesse of warre.

16For thus hath the Lord sayd vnto me: Within a yeere, according to the yeeres of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall faile.

17And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar shalbe diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it.

I == Zech 9:14

II == Isa 13:17 ; 33:1 ; Jer 49:34

III == Isa 13:8 ; 15:5 ; 16:11

IV == Deut 28:67

V == Gen 5:5

VII == Isa 21:9

VIII == Hab 2:1

IX == Isa 46:1 ; Jer 50:2 ; 51:8 , 44 ; Rev 14:8 ; 18:2

X == Jer 51:33

XI == 1st Chr 1:30 ; Ezra 35:2 ; Jer 49:7-8 ; Obad 1:1

XIII == 1st Chr 1:9 , 32 ; Jer 49:28

XVI == Ps 120:5 ; Isa 16:14 ; 60:7

1 Oracle on the wastelands by the sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping in waves through the Negeb, there comes from the desert, from the fearful land,

2 A cruel sight, revealed to me: the traitor betrays, the despoiler spoils. "Go up, Elam; besiege, O Media; I will put an end to all groaning!"

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.

4 My mind reels, shuddering assails me; My yearning for twilight has turned into dread.

5 They set the table, spread out the rugs; they eat, they drink. Rise up, O princes, oil the shield!

6 For thus says my Lord to me: Go, station a watchman, let him tell what he sees.

7 If he sees a chariot, a pair of horses, Someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel, Then let him pay heed, very close heed.

8 Then the watchman cried, "On the watchtower, O my Lord, I stand constantly by day; And I stay at my post through all the watches of the night.

9 Here he comes now: a single chariot, a pair of horses; He calls out and says, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon, And all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground.'"

10 O my people who have been threshed, beaten on my threshing floor! What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I have announced to you.

11 Oracle on Edom: They call to me from Seir, "Watchman, how much longer the night? Watchman, how much longer the night?"

12 The watchman replies, "Morning has come, and again night. If you will ask, ask; come back again."

13 Oracle on Arabia: In the thicket in the nomad country spend the night, O caravans of Dedanites.

14 Meet the thirsty, bring them water; you who dwell in the land of Tema, greet the fugitives with bread.

15 They flee from the sword, from the whetted sword; From the taut bow, from the fury of battle.

16 For thus says the Lord to me: In another year, like those of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall come to an end.

17 Few of Kedar's stalwart archers shall remain, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.

v 1,2. This portion is not about the capture of Babylon by Darius the Mede in 539. That was something in which Israel could rejoice, but this was something to fear. This was an uprising by Elam and Medes under Marodach-Baladan (39:1) in 722 BC. From 705-702 he revolted against Sennacherib. Isaiah warned Israel not to rely on Babylon, and this dashed their hopes.  

v 3-5. Isaiah illustrated this trouble by speaking of labor pains. They should prepare for battle by oiling their leather shields to keep them from cracking.

v 6-10. They were to watch for a report of the battle between Babylon and Assyria and it was reported that Babylon had fallen. Now there was no stopping Assyria, and Israel felt crushed as if threshed. Isaiah repeats that his message is from God.

v 11,12. Edom was already paying tribute to Tiglath-pileasar in 734 and Sargon in 711, and it did no good to watch, because their situation was not going to improve.

v 13-17. All of Arabia was mightily overpowered by Assyria just as God had spoken. Some of the Arabians were deported to Samaria in the breaking down of allegiance to any one country.