The Fall of Babylon
211An oracle about the Wilderness by the Sea.
Like windstorms that sweep through the Negev,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrifying place.
2An ominous vision has been shown to me.
The betrayer betrays; the destroyer destroys.
Elam, attack! Media, lay siege![] I will bring all her groaning to an end.
3That is why I am full of anguish.
Pain has taken hold of me, like the pain of a woman in labor.
I am stunned by what I hear,
terrified by what I see.
4My heart pounds!
I am shaking with fear.
The twilight that I longed for is making me quake with terror.
5They prepare the table.
They spread out the luxurious carpets.
They eat. They drink.
“Officers! Get up and oil your shields!”
6Yes, this is what the Lord said to me:
Go, post a watchman.
Have him declare what he sees.
7When he sees chariots pulled by teams of horses,
riders on donkeys, and riders on camels,
have him listen carefully—very carefully.
8The lookout[] cried out: Lord,[] I stand on the watchtower day after day, and every night I stay at my post.
9Now, look! Here come men in chariots pulled by teams of horses.
Then he announced:
Fallen, fallen is Babylon!
All the images of her gods lie broken on the ground.
10O my people, you who have been threshed like grain on my threshing floor, everything I have heard from the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, I have proclaimed to you.
A Prophecy Against Edom
11The oracle against Dumah.[] Someone calls out to me from Seir,
“Watchman, how much of the night remains?
Watchman, how much of the night remains?”
12The watchman said:
“Morning is coming, but night is coming again.
If you want to ask, go ahead and ask.
Then return! Come back again.”
A Prophecy Against Arabia
13An oracle against Arabia.
You spend the night among the thickets of Arabia,
you caravans of Dedanites.
14Bring water for the thirsty,
you who live in Tema.
Bring bread for the refugees.
15They fled from the sword,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the heat of battle.
16This is what the Lord said to me: “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end, 17and the archers who survive, the strong warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.