Fall of Babylon
1 An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea:
A fearful vision is shown to me:
As whirlwinds sweep over the Negeb,
coming in waves from the desert,
from the fearful land,
2 the traitor betrays,
the plunderer plunders.
“Go up, O Elam!
Lay siege, O Media!”
“I have silenced all the groanings.”
3 Therefore I am in anguish;
my body is wracked with pain
as a woman in travail.
I am so bewildered that I cannot hear,
I am so dismayed that I cannot see.
4 My mind reels,
my heart falters in fear;
the twilight I longed for
has become a horror.
5 They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat and drink.
Arise, O princes,
oil the shield!
6 For this is what Yahweh said to me,
“Go, post a watchman
and make him report what he sees.
7 If he sees riders:
horsemen in pairs,
men mounted on camels,
men mounted on donkeys;
let him observe diligently,
let him listen attentively.”
8 Then the watchman shouted,
“On a watchtower, O Lord, I stand
through all the watches of the day,
and at my post I stay
through all the watches of the night.
9 And look, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs.”
And he spoke up again:
“Fallen is Babylon, fallen,
and all the graven images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground!”
10 O my people, threshed and winnowed,
I announce to you what I have heard
from Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel.
Against Edom and Arabia
11 An oracle concerning Dumah:
Someone calls to me out of Seir,
“Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?”
12 The watchman answers,
“Morning comes, but soon
it will be night again.
Come back and ask,
if you want to ask again.”
13 An oracle concerning Arabia:
In the forest of Arabia lodge
the Dedanites’ traveling companies.
14 Those who dwell in the land of Tema
went to meet the fugitives:
bring bread for the hungry
and water for the thirsty.
15 These people have fled from the sword,
from the whetted swords,
from the bent bows,
from the fury of battle.
16 For thus Yahweh says to me, “In a year’s time, as a worker bound by contract would reckon it, all the glory of Ke dar will come to an end.
17 Few of Kedar’s archers and warriors will re main.” Yah weh God of Israel has spoken.