[1] A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. [2] A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused. [3] At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. [4] My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me. [5] They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields! [6] This is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. [7] When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert.” [8] And the lookout shouted, “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post. [9] 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!’ ” [10] My people who are crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD Almighty, from the God of Israel.
