1. The burden of the desert of the sea. Just as the whirlwinds approach from Africa, it approaches from the desert, from a terrible land.
2. A difficult vision has been announced to me: he who is unbelieving, he acts unfaithfully, and he who is a plunderer, he devastates. Ascend, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I have caused all its mourning to cease.
3. Because of this, my lower back has been filled with pain, and anguish has possessed me, like the anguish of a woman in labor. I fell down when I heard it. I was disturbed when I saw it.
4. My heart withered. The darkness stupefied me. Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me.
5. Prepare the table. Contemplate, from a place of observation, those who eat and drink. Rise up, you leaders! Take up the shield!
6. For the Lord has said this to me: "Go and station a watchman. And let him announce whatever he will see."
7. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, and a rider on an donkey, and a rider on a camel. And he considered them diligently, with an intense gaze.
8. And a lion cried out: "I am on the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day. And I am at my station, standing throughout the night.