Isaiæ 21
1 Onus deserti maris. Sicut turbines ab africo veniunt, de deserto venit, de terra horribili.
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
2 Visio dura nuntiata est mihi: qui incredulus est infideliter agit; et qui depopulator est vastat. Ascende, Ælam; obside, Mede; omnem gemitum ejus cessare feci.
A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing.
3 Propterea repleti sunt lumbi mei dolore; angustia possedit me sicut angustia parturientis; corrui cum audirem, conturbatus sum cum viderem.
Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see.
4 Emarcuit cor meum; tenebræ stupefecerunt me: Babylon dilecta mea posita est mihi in miraculum.
My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.
5 Pone mensam, contemplare in specula comedentes et bibentes: surgite, principes, arripite clypeum.
They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!
6 Hæc enim dixit mihi Dominus: Vade, et pone speculatorem, et quodcumque viderit annuntiet.
For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees.
7 Et vidit currum duorum equitum, ascensorem asini, et ascensorem cameli; et contemplatus est diligenter multo intuitu.
When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.”
8 Et clamavit leo: Super speculam Domini ego sum, stans jugiter per diem; et super custodiam meam ego sum, stans totis noctibus.
He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.
9 Ecce iste venit ascensor vir bigæ equitum; et respondit, et dixit: Cecidit, cecidit Babylon, et omnia sculptilia deorum ejus contrita sunt in terram.
Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
10 Tritura mea et filii areæ meæ, quæ audivi a Domino exercituum, Deo Israël, annuntiavi vobis.
You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
11 Onus Duma. Ad me clamat ex Seir: Custos, quid de nocte? custos, quid de nocte?
The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
12 Dixit custos: Venit mane et nox; si quæritis, quærite; convertimini, venite.
The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again.”
13 Onus in Arabia. In saltu ad vesperam dormietis, in semitis Dedanim.
The burden on Arabia. You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you caravans of Dedanites.
14 Occurrentes sitienti ferte aquam, qui habitatis terram austri; cum panibus occurrite fugienti.
They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread.
15 A facie enim gladiorum fugerunt, a facie gladii imminentis, a facie arcus extenti, a facie gravis prælii.
For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.
16 Quoniam hæc dicit Dominus ad me: Adhuc in uno anno, quasi in anno mercenarii, et auferetur omnis gloria Cedar.
For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail,
17 Et reliquiæ numeri sagittariorum fortium de filiis Cedar imminuentur; Dominus enim Deus Israël locutus est.
and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
