1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. (Isa 13:1; Jer 51:1; Jer 51:36; Jer 51:42)2A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end. (Isa 11:11; Isa 13:17; Isa 24:16; Isa 33:1; Eze 9:4)3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see. (Isa 13:8)4My heart staggers; horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. (De 28:67)5They prepare the table, they spread the rugs,[1] they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes; oil the shield! (2Sa 1:21; Jer 51:39; Jer 51:57)6For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently.”8Then he who saw cried out:[2] “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights. (Hab 2:1)9And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!” And he answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.” (Isa 46:1; Jer 51:8; Hab 2:2; Re 14:8; Re 18:2)10O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you. (Jer 51:33; Am 1:3; Mic 4:13)11The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?” (Ge 25:14; De 2:8; 1Ch 1:30; Isa 13:1; Eze 35:2)12The watchman says: “Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.” (Job 36:20; Ps 37:36; Am 5:8)13The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of Dedanites. (Ge 25:3; Ge 37:25; Isa 13:1; Jer 25:23)14To the thirsty bring water; meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema. (Job 6:19)15For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle.16For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. (Ge 25:13; Ps 120:5; So 1:5; Isa 16:14; Isa 60:7; Jer 2:10; Jer 49:28; Eze 27:21)17And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.” (Isa 1:20; Isa 21:16)