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Chapter 21

Fall of Babylon[a]

    Oracle on the wastelands by the sea:[b]
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negeb,
    it comes from the desert,
    from the fearful land.(A)
A harsh vision has been announced to me:
    “The traitor betrays,
    the despoiler spoils.(B)
Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media;[c]
    put an end to all its groaning!”(C)
Therefore my loins are filled with anguish,
    pangs have seized me like those of a woman in labor;
I am too bewildered to hear,
    too dismayed to look.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 21:1–10 This oracle against Babylon is probably to be dated to the period just before the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C. (v. 9).
  2. 21:1 Wastelands by the sea: Babylonia. Negeb: the wilderness south of Judah.
  3. 21:2 Elam…Media: nations which, under the leadership of Cyrus, captured Babylon in 539 B.C. End to all its groaning: those who were captive of Babylon will be freed.

A Prophecy Against Babylon

21 A prophecy(A) against the Desert(B) by the Sea:

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

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.

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.

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