¹The oracle of the wilderness of the sea: As storm winds passing over in the Negev, ⌞it comes⌟ from the desert, from a frightful land. ²A hard revelation is told to me; the treacherous deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; lay siege, Media! I put an end to all of her sighing. ³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth. I am ⌞too bent to hear⌟, I am ⌞too dismayed to see⌟. ⁴My ⌞mind⌟ staggers; fear terrifies me; the twilight ⌞I desired⌟ ⌞brought⌟ me fear. ⁵Set out the table in order! Spread out the rugs! Eat! drink! Rise up, commanders; smear the shield! ⁶For the Lord said this to me: “Go, set a watchman in position. He must announce what he sees. ⁷When he sees riders, a pair of horsemen, riders of donkeys, riders of camels, ⌞then⌟ he must listen attentively, paying attention, paying ⌞special⌟ attention.” ⁸Then the ⌞watchman⌟ called, “Lord, I am standing on the watchtower continually by day, and I am standing at my post ⌞throughout⌟ the night. ⁹And look at this! A man’s a chariot is coming, a pair of horsemen!” Then he responded and said, “It has fallen! Babylon has fallen! And all the images of her gods are smashed on the ground!” ¹⁰My downtrodden people and the son of my threshing floor, I will announce to you what I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel. ¹¹The oracle of Dumah: One is calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, what ⌞of⌟ the night? Watchman, what ⌞of⌟ the night?” ¹²The watchman says, “Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; ⌞come back again⌟.” ¹³An oracle ⌞concerning⌟ Arabia: You will spend the night in the thicket in a desert-plateau, caravans of Dedanites. ¹⁴⌞When you happen to meet⌟ the thirsty, bring water. Inhabitants of the land of Tema came to meet the fugitive with his bread. ¹⁵For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword and the bent bow, and from the heaviness of the battle. ¹⁶For the Lord said this to me: “⌞In one more year⌟, like the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. ¹⁷And the remainder of the number of the bows of the warriors of the sons of Kedar will be few.” For Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken.