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

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

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

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

“Go, post a lookout^(AS)
    and have him report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees chariots^(AT)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,^(AU)
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^(AW)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon^(AX) has fallen,^(AY) has fallen!
All the images of its gods^(AZ)
    lie shattered^(BA) on the ground!’”

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

Someone calls to me from Seir,^(BD)
    “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,^(BG)
    who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
¹⁴     bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,^(BH)
    bring food for the fugitives.
¹⁵ They flee^(BI) from the sword,^(BJ)
    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,^(BS)
2 you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult^(BT) and revelry?^(BU)
Your slain^(BV) were not killed by the sword,^(BW)
    nor did they die in battle.
³ All your leaders have fled^(BX) together;
    they have been captured^(BY) 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^(BZ) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”^(CA)

⁵ The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day^(CB)
    of tumult and trampling^(CC) and terror^(CD)
    in the Valley of Vision,^(CE)
a day of battering down walls^(CF)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
⁶ Elam^(CG) takes up the quiver,^(CH)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir^(CI) uncovers the shield.
⁷ Your choicest valleys^(CJ) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.^(CK)

⁸ The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day^(CL)
    to the weapons^(CM) in the Palace of the Forest.^(CN)
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through^(CO) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.^(CP)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses^(CQ) to strengthen the wall.^(CR)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls^(CS)
    for the water of the Old Pool,^(CT)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard^(CU) for the One who planned^(CV) it long ago.

¹² The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day^(CW)
to weep^(CX) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair^(CY) and put on sackcloth.^(CZ)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,^(DA)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!^(DB)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”^(DC)

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna^(DF) the palace^(DG) administrator:^(DH)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave^(DI) for yourself^(DJ) here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

¹⁷ “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl^(DK) you away, you mighty man.
¹⁸ He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw^(DL) you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots^(DM) you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
¹⁹ I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted^(DN) from your position.^(DO)