1. An oracle against the desert by the sea: Like storms that pass over the Negev,it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
2. A troubling vision is declared to me:“The treacherous one acts treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!I will put an end to all her groaning.”
3. Therefore I am filled with anguish.Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. I am too perplexed to hear,too dismayed to see.
4. My heart staggers;horror terrifies me.He has turned my last glimmer of hope into sheer terror.
5. Prepare a table, and spread out a carpet!Eat and drink!Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!
6. For the Lord has said to me,“Go, post a lookout;let him report what he sees.
7. When he sees riders —pairs of horsemen,riders on donkeys,riders on camels —he must pay close attention.”
8. Then the lookout reported,“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, and I stay at my post all night.