21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: 1
Like strong winds blowing in the south, 2
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
21:2 I have received a distressing message: 3
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 4
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; 5
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed 6 by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
21:4 My heart palpitates, 7
I shake in fear; 8
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
21:5 Arrange the table,
lay out 9 the carpet,
eat and drink! 10
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields! 11
21:6 For this is what the sovereign master 12 has told me:
“Go, post a guard!
He must report what he sees.
21:7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses, 13
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
21:8 Then the guard 14 cries out:
“On the watchtower, O sovereign master, 15
I stand all day long;
at my post
I am stationed every night.
21:9 Look what’s coming!
A charioteer,
a team of horses.” 16
When questioned, he replies, 17
“Babylon has fallen, fallen!
All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
21:10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, 18
what I have heard
from the Lord who commands armies,
the God of Israel,
I have reported to you.