5They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
         “Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

6For thus the Lord says to me,
         “Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.

7“When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
         A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
         Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

8Then the lookout called,
         “O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
         And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

9“Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
         And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
         And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

10O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
         What I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
         The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

      11The oracle concerning Edom.
         One keeps calling to me from Seir,
         “Watchman, how far gone is the night?
         Watchman, how far gone is the night?”

12The watchman says,
         “Morning comes but also night.
         If you would inquire, inquire;
         Come back again.”

      13The oracle about Arabia.
         In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
         O caravans of Dedanites.

14Bring water for the thirsty,
         O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
         Meet the fugitive with bread.

15For they have fled from the swords,
         From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow
         And from the press of battle.

      16For thus the Lord said to me, “In a year, as a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate; 17and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
They prepare the table, they set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield.

Darby Bible Translation
Prepare the table, appoint the watch; eat, drink: arise, ye princes, anoint the shield.

English Revised Version
They prepare the table, they set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.

Webster's Bible Translation
Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.

World English Bible
They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!

Young's Literal Translation
Arrange the table, watch in the watch-tower, Eat, drink, rise, ye heads, anoint the shield,The Morning Breaketh
TEXT: "Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night."--Isaiah 21:11-12. It is very interesting to note that, whether we study the Old Testament or the New, nights are always associated with God's mornings. In other words, he does not leave us in despair without sending to us his messengers of hope and cheer. The Prophet Isaiah in this particular part of his prophecy seems to be almost broken-hearted because of the sin of the people. As one of the Scotch …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

In the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius Cæsar and under the Pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas - a Voice in the Wilderness
THERE is something grand, even awful, in the almost absolute silence which lies upon the thirty years between the Birth and the first Messianic Manifestation of Jesus. In a narrative like that of the Gospels, this must have been designed; and, if so, affords presumptive evidence of the authenticity of what follows, and is intended to teach, that what had preceded concerned only the inner History of Jesus, and the preparation of the Christ. At last that solemn silence was broken by an appearance, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Letter Xlii to the Illustrious Youth, Geoffrey De Perrone, and his Comrades.
To the Illustrious Youth, Geoffrey de Perrone, and His Comrades. He pronounces the youths noble because they purpose to lead the religious life, and exhorts them to perseverance. To his beloved sons, Geoffrey and his companions, Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes the spirit of counsel and strength. 1. The news of your conversion that has got abroad is edifying many, nay, is making glad the whole Church of God, so that The heavens rejoice and the earth is glad (Ps. xcvi. 11), and every tongue …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Isaiah 21:5 NIV • Isaiah 21:5 NLT • Isaiah 21:5 ESV • Isaiah 21:5 NASB • Isaiah 21:5 KJV • Isaiah 21:5 Bible Apps • Isaiah 21:5 Parallel • Bible Hub