[1] An oracle about the wilderness near the sea. Like whirlwinds sweeping through the arid southern plain, it comes from the desert, from a fearsome land. [2] A harsh vision was proclaimed to me: The betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media! Put an end to all her groaning. [3] Therefore, I’m shaken to my core in anguish. Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I’m too bent over to hear, too dismayed to see. [4] My heart pounds; convulsions overpower me. He has turned my evening of pleasure into dread— [5] setting the table, spreading the cloth, eating, drinking. “Arise, captains! Polish the shields.” [6] The Lord said this to me: “Go, post a lookout to report what he sees. [7] When he sees chariots, pairs of horsemen, donkey riders, camel riders, he should listen carefully, carefully, very carefully.” [8] Then the seer called out: “Upon a watchtower, Lord, I’m standing all day; and upon my observation post I’m stationed throughout the night. [9] Here they come: charioteers, pairs of horsemen!” One spoke up and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground!” [10] Oh, my downtrodden people, threshed on my threshing floor, what I heard from the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, I reported to you. [11] An oracle about Dumah. Someone is calling to me from Seir: “Guard, how long is the night? Guard, how long is the night?” [12] The guard said, “Morning has come, but it is still night. If you must inquire, inquire; come back again.” [13] An oracle about the desert. In the woods, in the desert where you camp, caravans of the Dedanites [14] meet the thirsty with water; inhabitants of the land of Tema greet the refugees with bread. [15] They have fled from swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and from the intensity of battle. [16] So the Lord said to me: Within a year, according to the number of years for which a laborer is hired, all the glory of Kedar will end; [17] there will be few Kedarite archers remaining. The LORD God of Israel has spoken.
