| Revised Standard Version (RSV) |
New International Version (NIV) |
|
1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
|
1 An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
|
|
2 A stern vision is told to me; the plunderer plunders, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.
|
2 A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
|
|
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in travail; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
|
3 At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see.
|
|
4 My mind reels, horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
|
4 My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.
|
|
5 They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes, oil the shield!
|
5 They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!
|
|
6 For thus the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman, let him announce what he sees.
|
6 This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.
|
|
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on asses, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently."
|
7 When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert."
|
|
8 Then he who saw cried: "Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.
|
8 And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.
|
|
9 And, behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!" And he answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods he has shattered to the ground."
|
9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: 'Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!' "
|
|
10 O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.
|
10 O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD Almighty, from the God of Israel.
|
| Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Revised Standard Version - Holy Bible) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
