21:1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. 21:2 A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end. 21:3 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. 21:4 My heart staggers; horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. 21:5 They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes; oil the shield! 21:6 For thus the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees. 21:7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently." 21:8 Then he who saw cried out: "Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights. 21:9 And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!" And he answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground." 21:10 O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you. 21:11 The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Seir, "Watchman, what time of the night Watchman, what time of the night" 21:12 The watchman says: "Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again." 21:13 The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of Dedanites. 21:14 To the thirsty bring water; meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema. 21:15 For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle. 21:16 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. 21:17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken."