f
Amos, saying Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take
off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and
barefoot.

20:3. And the Lord said: As my servant Isaias hath walked, naked and
barefoot, it shall be a sign and a wonder of three years upon Egypt, and
upon Ethiopia,

20:4. So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of
Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot,
with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt.

20:5. And they shall be afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope, and
of Egypt their glory.

20:6. And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day: Lo this
was our hope, to whom we fled for help, to deliver us from the face of
the king of the Assyrians: and how shall we be able to escape?

Isaias Chapter 21

The destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians: a prophecy against
the Edomites and the Arabians.

21:1. The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from the
south, it cometh from the desert from a terrible land.

The desert of the sea... So Babylon is here called, because from a city
as full of people as the sea is with water, it was become a desert.

21:2. A grievous vision is told me: he that is unfaithful dealeth
unfaithfully: and he that is a spoiler, spoileth. Go up, O Elam,
besiege, O Mede: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease.

O Elam... That is, O Persia.

21:3. Therefore are my loins filled with pain, anguish hath taken hold
of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour: I fell down at the hearing
of it, I was troubled at the seeing of it.

21:4. My heart failed, darkness amazed me: Babylon my beloved is become
a wonder to me.

21:5. Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and
drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield.

21:6. For thus hath the Lord said to me: Go, and set a watchman: and
whatsoever he shall see, let him tell.

21:7. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a
rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much heed.

A rider upon an ass, etc... These two riders are the kings of the
Persians and Medes.

21:8. And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord,
standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole
nights.

And a lion cried out... That is, I Isaias seeing the approaching ruin of
Babylon, have cried out as a lion roaring.

21:9. Behold this man cometh, the