This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
Parallel translations
- WEB The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea. As whirlwinds in the South pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
- NASB The pronouncement concerning the wilderness of the sea: As windstorms in the Negev come in turns, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
- NLT This message came to me concerning Babylon—the desert by the sea: Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert, like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.
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
An oracle against Babylon, pictured as a desert storm sweeping in from a terrible land. It matters because it announces the certain fall of a mighty power.
Overview
The 'wilderness of the sea' is widely understood as a reference to Babylon, whose flat lands near the great waters fit the imagery. The onrushing whirlwinds depict the sudden, overwhelming approach of judgment from a fearsome quarter. Isaiah's burden announces that even Babylon's might will be broken. It sets the tone for a vision the prophet finds deeply distressing to bear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 14:23“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Isa 13:1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
- Jer 51:42The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves.
- Zech 9:14Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.
- Isa 13:20–22She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.
- Isa 17:1This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
- Job 37:9The tempest comes from its chamber, and the cold from the driving north winds.
- Dan 11:40At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
- Isa 13:4–5Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.
- Ezek 31:12Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.
- Ezek 30:11He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.
- Isa 13:17–18Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.
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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 21:1 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.