21:1 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.

21:2 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.

21:3 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.

21:4 My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.

21:5 They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!

21:6 This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.

21:7 When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert."

21:8 And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.

21:9 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!'"

21:10 O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD Almighty, from the God of Israel.

21:11 An oracle concerning Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir, "Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?"

21:12 The watchman replies, "Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; and come back yet again."

21:13 An oracle concerning Arabia: You caravans of Dedanites, who camp in the thickets of Arabia,

21:14 bring water for the thirsty; you who live in Tema, bring food for the fugitives.

21:15 They flee from the sword, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and from the heat of battle.

21:16 This is what the Lord says to me: "Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the pomp of Kedar will come to an end.

21:17 The survivors of the bowmen, the warriors of Kedar, will be few." The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.