^1. THE [3] oracle concerning the [2] wilderness of the sea. As windstorms in the [1] Negev sweep on, 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 made an end of all [4] 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 [6] mind reels, [5] horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.

^5. They set the table, they [7] spread 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 report what he sees.

^7. «When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention.»

^8. Then [8] the lookout called, « O 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 [9] are shattered on the ground.»

^10. O my threshed people, and my [10] afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I make known to you.

^11. The [14] oracle concerning [13] Edom. One keeps calling to me from Seir, «Watchman, [12] how far gone is the night? Watchman, [11] 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 oracle about Arabia. In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, O caravans of Dedanites.

^14. Bring water for the thirsty, O 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 thus the Lord said to me, «In a year, as a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate;

^17. and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken.»