1
A Prophecy Against Babylon
An oracle concerning 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
O my people, crushed on the threshing floor,
I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
from the God of Israel.
11
A Prophecy Against Edom
An oracle concerning Dumah:
Someone calls to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”