Like whirlwinds^(C) sweeping through the southland,^(D)
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.

² A dire^(E) vision has been shown to me:
    The traitor betrays,^(F) the looter takes loot.
Elam,^(G) attack! Media,^(H) lay siege!
    I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

³ At this my body is racked with pain,^(I)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;^(J)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered^(K) by what I see.
⁴ My heart^(L) falters,
    fear makes me tremble;^(M)
the twilight I longed for
    has become a horror^(N) to me.

⁵ They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!^(O)
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!^(P)

“Go, post a lookout^(Q)
    and have him report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees chariots^(R)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,^(S)
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
⁹ Look, here comes a man in a chariot^(U)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon^(V) has fallen,^(W) has fallen!
All the images of its gods^(X)
    lie shattered^(Y) on the ground!’”

¹⁰ My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,^(Z)
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.

Someone calls to me from Seir,^(AB)
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”
¹² The watchman replies,
    “Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
    and come back yet again.”

You caravans of Dedanites,^(AE)
    who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
¹⁴     bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,^(AF)
    bring food for the fugitives.
¹⁵ They flee^(AG) from the sword,^(AH)
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
    and from the heat of battle.

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,^(AQ)
2 you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult^(AR) and revelry?^(AS)
Your slain^(AT) were not killed by the sword,^(AU)
    nor did they die in battle.
³ All your leaders have fled^(AV) together;
    they have been captured^(AW) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
⁴ Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep^(AX) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”^(AY)

⁵ The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day^(AZ)
    of tumult and trampling^(BA) and terror^(BB)
    in the Valley of Vision,^(BC)
a day of battering down walls^(BD)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
⁶ Elam^(BE) takes up the quiver,^(BF)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir^(BG) uncovers the shield.
⁷ Your choicest valleys^(BH) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.^(BI)

⁸ The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day^(BJ)
    to the weapons^(BK) in the Palace of the Forest.^(BL)
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through^(BM) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.^(BN)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses^(BO) to strengthen the wall.^(BP)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls^(BQ)
    for the water of the Old Pool,^(BR)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard^(BS) for the One who planned^(BT) it long ago.

¹² The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day^(BU)
to weep^(BV) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair^(BW) and put on sackcloth.^(BX)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,^(BY)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!^(BZ)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”^(CA)