3. What I saw and heard in the vision has filled me with terror and pain, pain like that of a woman in labour.
4. My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.
5. In the vision a banquet is ready; rugs are spread for the guests to sit on. They are eating and drinking. Suddenly the command rings out: “Officers! Prepare your shields!”
6. Then the Lord said to me, “Go and post a sentry, and tell him to report what he sees.
7. If he sees men coming on horseback, two by two, and men riding on donkeys and camels, he is to observe them carefully.”
8. The sentry calls out, “Sir, I have been standing guard at my post day and night.”
9. Suddenly, here they come! Men on horseback, two by two. The sentry gives the news, “Babylon has fallen! All the idols they worshipped lie shattered on the ground.”
10. My people Israel, you have been threshed like wheat, but now I have announced to you the good news that I have heard from the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel.
11. This is a message about Edom.Someone calls to me from Edom, “Sentry, how soon will the night be over? Tell me how soon it will end.”
12. I answer, “Morning is coming, but night will come again. If you want to ask again, come back and ask.”