1The burden of the wilderness of the sea . As whirlwinds in the South sweep through , it cometh from the wilderness , from a terrible land. 2A grievous vision is declared unto me ; the treacherous man dealeth treacherously, and the destroyer destroyeth. Go up , O Elam ; besiege , O Media ; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease . 3Therefore are my loins filled with anguish ; pangs have taken hold upon me , as the pangs of a woman in travail : I am pained so that I cannot hear ; I am dismayed so that I cannot see . 4My heart fluttereth, horror hath affrighted me ; the twilight that I desired hath been turned into trembling unto me . 5They prepare the table , they set the watch, they eat, they drink : rise up , ye princes , anoint the shield . 6For thus hath the Lord said unto me , Go , set a watchman ; let him declare what he seeth : 7and when he seeth a troop, horsemen in pairs , a troop of asses , a troop of camels , he shall hearken diligently with much heed . 8And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward whole nights ; 9and , behold , here cometh a troop of men , horsemen in pairs . And he answered and said , Fallen , fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground. 10O thou my threshing , and the grain of my floor ! that which I have heard from Jehovah of hosts , the God of Israel , have I declared unto you .
The Fall of Babylon
11The burden of Dumah . One calleth unto me out of Seir , Watchman , what of the night ? Watchman , what of the night ? 12The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night : if ye will inquire , inquire ye : turn ye , come . 13The burden upon Arabia . In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge , O ye caravans of Dedanites . 14Unto him that was thirsty they brought water ; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread . 15For they fled away from the swords , from the drawn sword , and from the bent bow , and from the grievousness of war . 16For thus hath the Lord said unto me , Within a year , according to the years of a hireling , all the glory of Kedar shall fail ; 17and the residue of the number of the archers , the mighty men of the children of Kedar , shall be few ; for Jehovah , the God of Israel , hath spoken it .