Study

Oracles concerning Babylon, Edom, and Arabia

21

The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

 

As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,

it comes from the desert,

from a terrible land.

2

A stern vision is told to me;

the betrayer betrays,

and the destroyer destroys.

Go up, O Elam,

lay siege, O Media;

all the sighing she has caused

I bring to an end.

3

Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

pangs have seized me,

like the pangs of a woman in labor;

I am bowed down so that I cannot hear,

I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

4

My mind reels, horror has appalled me;

the twilight I longed for

has been turned for me into trembling.

5

They prepare the table,

they spread the rugs,

they eat, they drink.

Rise up, commanders,

oil the shield!

6

For thus the Lord said to me:

“Go, post a lookout,

let him announce what he sees.

7

When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

riders on donkeys, riders on camels,

let him listen diligently,

very diligently.”

8

Then the watcher called out:

“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,

continually by day,

and at my post I am stationed

throughout the night.

9

Look, there they come, riders,

horsemen in pairs!”

Then he responded,

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

and all the images of her gods

lie shattered on the ground.”

10

O my threshed and winnowed one,

what I have heard from the L ord of hosts,

the God of Israel, I announce to you.

 

¹¹ The oracle concerning Dumah.

 

One is calling to me from Seir,

“Sentinel, what of the night?

Sentinel, what of the night?”

12

The sentinel says:

“Morning comes, and also the night.

If you will inquire, inquire;

come back again.”

 

¹³ The oracle concerning the desert plain.

 

In the scrub of the desert plain you will lodge,

O caravans of Dedanites.

14

Bring water to the thirsty,

meet the fugitive with bread,

O inhabitants of the land of Tema.

15

For they have fled from the swords,

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow,

and from the stress of battle.

¹⁶ For thus the Lord said to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end; ¹⁷and the remaining bows of Kedar’s warriors will be few; for the L ord, the God of Israel, has spoken.