Isaiah 21:9
New International Version
Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: ‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!’”

New Living Translation
Now at last—look! Here comes a man in a chariot with a pair of horses!” Then the watchman said, “Babylon is fallen, fallen! All the idols of Babylon lie broken on the ground!”

English Standard Version
And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!” And he answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.”

Berean Standard Bible
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

King James Bible
And, 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.

New King James Version
And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.”

New American Standard Bible
“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.”

NASB 1995
“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.”

NASB 1977
“Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

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

Amplified Bible
“Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

Christian Standard Bible
Look, riders come — horsemen in pairs.” And he answered, saying, “Babylon has fallen, has fallen. All the images of her gods have been shattered on the ground.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Look, riders come— horsemen in pairs.” And he answered, saying,” Babylon has fallen, has fallen. All the images of her gods have been shattered on the ground.”

American Standard Version
and, behold, here cometh a troop of men, horsemen in pairs. And he answered and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And behold, a man came from the riders of the horsemen and answered and said: “Babel has fallen and all of its gods! The carved images have been broken down in the land!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and, behold, he comes riding in a chariot and pair: and he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all her images and her idols have been crushed to the ground.

Contemporary English Version
Now I see column after column of cavalry troops." At once someone shouted, "Babylon has fallen! Every idol in the city lies broken on the ground."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold this man cometh, the rider upon the chariot with two horsemen, and he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground.

English Revised Version
and, behold, here cometh a troop of men, horsemen in pairs. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Look! Here come chariots and horsemen in pairs." Then he said, "Babylon has fallen! It has fallen! All the idols they worship lie shattered on the ground."

Good News Translation
Suddenly, here they come! Riders on horseback, two by two. The sentry gives the news, "Babylon has fallen! All the idols they worshiped lie shattered on the ground."

International Standard Version
Look! Here come riders, each man with a pair of horses!" They're shouting out the answer: "Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and they have shattered all the images of her gods on the ground!

JPS Tanakh 1917
And, behold, there came a troop of men, horsemen by pairs. And he spoke and said: 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.'

Literal Standard Version
And behold, this, the chariot of a man is coming, | A couple of horsemen.” And he answers and says: “Fallen, fallen has Babylon, | And He has broken all the carved images of her gods to the earth.

Majority Standard Bible
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

New American Bible
Here he comes— a single chariot, a pair of horses— He calls out and says, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods are smashed to the ground!’ ”

NET Bible
Look what's coming! A charioteer, a team of horses." When questioned, he replies, "Babylon has fallen, fallen! All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!"

New Revised Standard Version
Look, there they come, riders, horsemen in pairs!” Then he responded, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground.”

New Heart English Bible
Look, 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.

Webster's Bible Translation
And 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 to the ground.

World English Bible
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.

Young's Literal Translation
And lo, this, the chariot of a man is coming, A couple of horsemen.' And he answereth and saith: 'Fallen, fallen hath Babylon, And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken to the earth.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Babylon is Fallen
8Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. 9Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!” 10O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.…

Cross References
Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality."

Revelation 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast.

Isaiah 2:18
and the idols will vanish completely.

Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah 21:7
When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert."

Isaiah 46:1
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.

Isaiah 47:5
"Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of Chaldea. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.


Treasury of Scripture

And, behold, here comes 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 has broken to the ground.

behold

Jeremiah 50:3,9,29,42
For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast…

Jeremiah 51:27
Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

Babylon

Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah 14:4
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

Jeremiah 50:2
Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

all

Isaiah 46:1,2
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast

Jeremiah 50:2,38
Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces…

Jeremiah 51:44,47,52
And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall…

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Babylon Broken Chariot Couple Engraved Fallen Gives Gods Graven Ground Horsemen Horses Images Lie Pairs Riders Shattered Team Troop Twos War-Carriages
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Isaiah 21
1. The prophet, bewailing the captivity of his people,
6. sees in a vision the fall of Babylon by the Medes and Persians.
11. Edom, scorning the prophet, is moved to repentance.
13. The set time of Arabia's calamity.














(9) And, behold, here cometh . . .--Better, Behold, there came . . . The words narrate a second vision, not the watchman's narrative of the first. He sees now, as it were, a part of the cavalcade which he had beheld before, and now it is no longer silent, but reports what has been accomplished. "Babylon is fallen, is fallen!" The words are applied to the destruction of the mystical Babylon in Revelation 14:8; Revelation 18:2. Stress is laid on the destruction of the idols of Babylon by the iconoclastic Persians.

Verse 9. - And, behold, here cometh, etc. Our translators make the words those of the watchman. But they are better taken as the prophet's statement of a fact, "And behold, just then there cometh a troop of men, riding two and two" - the sign for which he was to watch (ver. 7), or rather the first part of it. We must suppose the rest of the sign to follow, and the watchman then to listen awhile attentively. Suddenly he hears the sound of a sacked town, and he exclaims, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, etc. All the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. Recent documents, belonging to the time of Cyrus, and treating of his capture of Babylon, show that this expression is not to be understood literally. Cyrus was not an iconoclast; he did not break into pieces, or in any way destroy or insult the Babylonian idols. On the contrary, he maintained them in their several shrines, or restored them where they had been displaced; he professed himself a worshipper of the chief Babylonian gods - Bel, Nebo, and Merodach - he repaired the temple of Merodach; he prayed to Bel and Nebo to lengthen his days; he caused his son, Cambyses, to take part in the great religious ceremony wherewith the Babylonians opened the new year. Thus his conquest of Babylon did not bring upon its gods a physical, but only a moral, destruction. The Persian victory discredited and degraded them. It proclaimed to Western Asia that the idolatrous system so long prevalent in the region between Mount Zagros and the Mediterranean was no longer in the ascendant, but lay at the mercy of another quite different religion, which condescended to accord it toleration. Such was the permanent result. No doubt there was also, in the sack of the city, much damage done to many of the idols by a greedy soldiery, who may have carried off many images of gold or silver, and broken up others that were not portable, and stripped off the plates of precious metal from the idols of "brass, and iron, and wood, and stone" (Daniel 5:6).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Look,
וְהִנֵּה־ (wə·hin·nêh-)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

here
זֶ֥ה (zeh)
Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

come
בָא֙ (ḇā)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

the riders,
רֶ֣כֶב (re·ḵeḇ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7393: A vehicle, a team, cavalry, a rider, the upper millstone

horsemen
פָּֽרָשִׁ֑ים (pā·rā·šîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6571: A steed, a driver, cavalry

in pairs.”
צֶ֖מֶד (ṣe·meḏ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6776: A couple, pair

And one answered,
וַיַּ֣עַן (way·ya·‘an)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

saying,
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Fallen,
נָפְלָ֤ה (nā·p̄ə·lāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

fallen is
נָֽפְלָה֙ (nā·p̄ə·lāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

Babylon!
בָּבֶ֔ל (bā·ḇel)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 894: Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city

All
וְכָל־ (wə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the images
פְּסִילֵ֥י (pə·sî·lê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 6456: An idol, image

of her gods
אֱלֹהֶ֖יהָ (’ĕ·lō·he·hā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

lie shattered
שִׁבַּ֥ר (šib·bar)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7665: To break, break in pieces

on the ground.”
לָאָֽרֶץ׃ (lā·’ā·reṣ)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 21:9 Behold here comes a troop of men (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 21:8
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