The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire. Come back yet again.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again.”
- KJV The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.
- NKJV The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; Return! Come back!”
- NASB The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.”
- NLT The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but night will soon return. If you wish to ask again, then come back and ask.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The watchman answers that morning comes, but night too; ask again if you will. It matters because it offers only partial, sobering hope and a call to keep seeking.
Overview
The reply that 'morning comes, and also the night' suggests relief mingled with continued darkness for Edom. The ambiguous answer withholds easy comfort and invites further inquiry: 'Come back again.' It reflects the limited hope held out to a nation under God's hand. The verse cautions against presuming on deliverance and urges persistent seeking.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Acts 17:30–32Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
- Acts 2:37–38When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
- Ezek 14:1–6Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.
- Ezek 18:30–32Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.
- Isa 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
- Ezek 7:10Behold, the day is here! It has come! Doom has gone out, the rod has budded, arrogance has bloomed.
- Ezek 7:5–7This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Disaster! An unprecedented disaster—behold, it is coming!
- Jer 42:19–22The LORD has told you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for sure that I have warned you today!
- Isa 17:14In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
- Ezek 7:12The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon the whole multitude.
- Acts 17:19–20So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
- Jer 50:27Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 21:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.