1. Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea:Like strong winds blowing in the south,one invades from the desert,from a land that is feared.
2. I have received a distressing message:“The deceiver deceives,the destroyer destroys.Attack, you Elamites!Lay siege, you Medes!I will put an end to all the groaning!”
3. For this reason my stomach churns; cramps overwhelm melike the contractions of a woman in labor.I am disturbed by what I hear,horrified by what I see.
4. My heart palpitates,I shake in fear;the twilight I desiredhas brought me terror.
5. Arrange the table,lay out the carpet,eat and drink!Get up, you officers,smear oil on the shields!
6. For this is what the sovereign master has told me:“Go, post a guard!He must report what he sees.
7. When he sees chariots, teams of horses,riders on donkeys,riders on camels,he must be alert,very alert.”
8. Then the guard cries out:“On the watchtower, O sovereign master,I stand all day long;at my postI am stationed every night.