1
The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea. As whirlwinds in the South pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
2
A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease.
3
Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.
4
My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.
5
Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!
6
For thus has the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees."
7
And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And he listened earnestly with great care.
8
Then he cried, "A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night.
9
And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!" Then he answered and said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground."