Vision of the Wilderness Sea
21 1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, it comes from the wilderness, from a land of terror. 2 A harsh vision has been shown to me: the betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media! I have put an end to all the groaning she caused. 3 Therefore my body is gripped with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I am too doubled over to hear, too terrified to see. 4 My heart staggers; horror overwhelms me. The twilight I longed for has turned to trembling for me. 5 They set the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Rise up, you princes! Oil the shields! a a v5 Oiling leather shields kept them supple and battle-ready — this was the standard way ancient soldiers prepared for combat.
6 For this is what the Sovereign Father said to me: "Go, station the watchman; let him report what he sees."
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him watch closely, very closely. 8 Then the watchman cried out: "A lion! Upon the watchtower, O Sovereign Father, I stand continually by day, and at my post I keep watch all through the nights." 9 And look — here come riders, horsemen in pairs! And he answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the carved images of her gods lie shattered on the ground." 10 O my threshed people, child of my threshing floor, what I have heard from the Father of heaven's armies, I declare to you.
Watchman, What of the Night?
11 The oracle concerning Dumah. Someone calls to me from Seir: "Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?" b b v11 Dumah means "silence" — a fitting title for this oracle against Edom, the land of Seir. 12 The watchman says, "Morning comes, and also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire; come back again."
A Word Concerning Arabia
13 The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets of Arabia you will spend the night, you caravans of Dedanites. 14 Bring water to the thirsty; you who live in the land of Tema, bring bread to the fugitive. 15 For they have fled from the swords — from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the weight of battle.
16 For this is what the Sovereign Father said to me: "Within a year, counted as a hired worker counts the years, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end."
17 And the remnant of the archers, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few, for our Father has spoken.