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Babylon is Fallen

¹ This is an oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.² A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”³ Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.⁴ My heart staggers; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.⁵ They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!⁶ For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout to report what he sees.⁷ When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.”⁸ Then the lookout^(a) shouted, “Day after day, O lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post.⁹ Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her 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 of Hosts, the God of Israel.

An Oracle Concerning Edom

¹¹ This is an oracle concerning Dumah^(a): One calls to me from Seir^(a), “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”¹² The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire! Come back yet again.”

A Prophecy Against Arabia

¹³ This is an oracle concerning Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.¹⁴ Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema, meet the refugees with food.¹⁵ For they flee from the sword, the sword that is drawn, from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle.¹⁶ For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.¹⁷ The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.