A 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.
A terrible vision has been shown to me; the betrayer keeps on betraying, and the destroyer keeps on destroying. Attack, O Elam! Surround the city, O Media! I will put an end to all the groaning and suffering it has caused.
God is revealing to Isaiah a vision of judgment where enemy nations will attack and destroy Babylon, putting an end to the suffering it has caused others.
📚 Historical Context
This prophecy was given during a time when Babylon was a rising power that would eventually conquer Jerusalem and take the Jewish people into exile. The Elamites and Medes were neighboring peoples who would later join with the Persians to overthrow the Babylonian empire in 539 BC. Isaiah is seeing a vision of Babylon's future destruction even before it had fully risen to power.
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