Fall of Babylon
1An 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,
2the traitor betrays,
the plunderer plunders.
“Go up, O Elam!
Lay siege, O Media!”
“I have silenced all the groanings.” 3Therefore 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.
4My mind reels,
my heart falters in fear;
the twilight I longed for
has become a horror.
5They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat and drink.
Arise, O princes,
oil the shield!
6For this is what Yahweh said to me, “Go, post a watchman
and make him report what he sees.
7If he sees riders:
horsemen in pairs,
men mounted on camels,
men mounted on donkeys;
let him observe diligently,
let him listen attentively.”
8Then 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. 9And 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!”
10O my people, threshed and winnowed,I announce to you what I have heard from Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel.
Against Edom and Arabia
11An oracle concerning Dumah: Someone calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
12The watchman answers,
“Morning comes, but soon
it will be night again.
Come back and ask,
if you want to ask again.”
13An oracle concerning Arabia: In the forest of Arabia lodge the Dedanites’ traveling companies.
14Those who dwell in the land of Tema went to meet the fugitives:
bring bread for the hungry
and water for the thirsty.
15These people have fled from the sword,
from the whetted swords,
from the bent bows,
from the fury of battle.
16For thus Yahweh says to me, “In a year’s time, as a worker bound by contract would reckon it, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17Few of Kedar’s archers and warriors will re main.” Yahweh God of Israel has spoken.
