Isaiah 21

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¹The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. ✦ ²A 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. ✦ ³Therefore 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. ✦ ⁴My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. ✦ ⁵Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. ✦ ⁶For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. ✦ ⁷And 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: ✦ ⁸And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: ✦ ⁹And, 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. ✦ ¹⁰O 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. ✦ ¹¹The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? ✦ ¹²The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come. ✦ ¹³The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. ✦ ¹⁴The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. ✦ ¹⁵For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. ✦ ¹⁶For 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: ✦ ¹⁷And 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. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Jer 51 ·21 Isa 13 ·13 Jer 50 ·10 Jer 49 ·6 Dan 5 ·6 1 Chr 1 ·5 Gen 25 ·4 Isa 16 ·4

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Seminary

★ Start hereCommentaryThe Book of Isaiah (NICOT)John N. Oswalt · Paid · evangelical
The standard evangelical commentary on Isaiah — thorough and devotionally warm.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 21YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Isaiah 21David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Isaiah 21Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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