As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,

it comes from the desert,

from a terrible land.*

2A 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.*

3Therefore 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.*

4My mind reels; horror has appalled me;

the twilight I longed for

has been turned for me into trembling.*

5They prepare the table;

they spread the rugs;

they eat; they drink.

Rise up, commanders;

oil the shield!*

6For thus the Lord said to me:

“Go, post a lookout;

let him announce what he sees.

7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

riders on donkeys, riders on camels,

let him watch closely,

very closely.”*

8Then the watchert called out:

“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,

continually by day,

and at my post I am stationed

throughout the night.*

9Look, 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.”*

10O my threshed and winnowed one,

what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel, I announce to you.*

One is calling to me from Seir,

“Sentinel, what of the night?

Sentinel, what of the night?”*

12The sentinel says:

“Morning comes and also the night.

If you will inquire, inquire;

come back again.”

In the scrub of the desert plain you will lodge,

O caravans of Dedanites.*

14Bring water to the thirsty,

O inhabitants of the land of Tema;

meet the fugitive with bread.*

15For they have fled from the swords,

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow,

and from the stress of battle.*