A Judgment on Babylon
Like storms that pass over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
2A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously, Is 24:16; 33:1
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all her groaning.”
3Therefore I am Lit Therefore my loins are filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; 16:11; 26:17-18; Jr 4:31; 6:24; 22:23; 30:6; 50:43; Mc 4:9-10; 1Th 5:3
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
4My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope Lit my twilight
into sheer terror. Dt 28:67
5Prepare a table, Jr 51:39,57; Dn 5:1-4 and spread out a carpet!
Eat and drink!
Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!
6For the Lord has said to me,
“Go, post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
7When he sees riders —
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels —
he must pay close attention.”
8Then the lookout DSS, Syr; MT reads Then a lion reported,
“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, Hab 2:1
and I stay at my post all night.
9Look, riders come —
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered, saying,
“Babylon has fallen, 2Sm 1:19; Is 3:8; 14:12; Jr 51:8; Ezk 32:22; Rv 14:8; 18:2 has fallen.
All the images of her gods
have been shattered on the ground.” Is 46:1; Jr 50:2; 51:44
10My people who have been crushed
on the threshing floor, Jr 51:33; Mc 4:13
I have declared to you
what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel.
An Oracle against Dumah
One calls to me from Seir, Dt 2:8; Ezk 35:2
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night? ”
12The watchman said,
“Morning has come, and also night.
If you want to ask, ask!
Come back again.”
An Oracle against Arabia
13An oracle against Arabia: Jr 25:23-24; 49:28
In the desert LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read desert at evening brush
you will camp for the night,
you caravans of Dedanites. Gn 10:7; Jr 25:23; 49:8; Ezk 27:15
14Bring water for the thirsty.
The inhabitants of the land of Tema Gn 25:15; Jb 6:19
meet LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read meet as a command the refugees with food.
15For they have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bow that is strung,
and from the stress of battle.
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