Chapter 21

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

1 The 1aoracle concerning the 2bwilderness of the sea.

As cwindstorms in the 3Negev sweep on,

It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

2 A aharsh vision has been shown to me;

The btreacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.

Go up, cElam, lay siege, Media;

I have made an end of all 1the groaning she has caused.

3 For this reason my aloins are full of anguish;

Pains have seized me like the pains of a bwoman in labor.

I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.

4 My 1mind reels, 2horror overwhelms me;

The twilight I longed for has been aturned for me into trembling.

5 They aset the table, they 1spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;

“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

6 For thus the Lord says to me,

“Go, station the lookout, let him areport what he sees.

7 “When he sees ariders, horsemen in pairs,

A train of donkeys, a train of camels,

Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

8 Then 1the lookout called,

“aO 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, “aFallen, fallen is Babylon;

And all the bimages of her gods 1are shattered on the ground.”

10 O my athreshed people, and my 1afflicted of the threshing floor!

What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,

The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

11 The 1oracle concerning 2aEdom.

One keeps calling to me from bSeir,

“Watchman, 3how far gone is the night?

Watchman, 3how far gone is the night?”

12 The watchman says,

“Morning comes but also night.

If you would inquire, inquire;

Come back again.”

13 The 1oracle about aArabia.

In the thickets of Arabia you 2must spend the night,

O caravans of bDedanites.

14 Bring water 1for the thirsty,

O inhabitants of the land of aTema,

Meet the fugitive with bread.

15 For they have afled from the swords,

From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow

And from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, “In a ayear, as 1a hired man would count it, all the splendor of bKedar will terminate;

17 and the aremainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel bhas spoken.”