[1] The pronouncement concerning the wilderness of the sea: As windstorms in the Negev come in turns, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land. [2] A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media; I have put an end to all the groaning she has caused. [3] For this reason my loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. [4] My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned into trembling for me. [5] They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains, oil the shields!” [6] For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, station the lookout, have him report what he sees. [7] “When he sees a column of chariots, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, He is to pay close attention, very close attention.” [8] Then the lookout called, “Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post. [9] “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.” [10] My downtrodden people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the Lord of armies, The God of Israel, I make known to you. [11] The pronouncement concerning Edom: One keeps calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?” [12] The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.” [13] The pronouncement about Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, You caravans of Dedanites. [14] Bring water for the thirsty, You inhabitants of the land of Tema; Meet the fugitive with bread. [15] For they have fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, And from the press of battle. [16] For this is what the Lord said to me: “In a year, as a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end; [17] and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken.”
