New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 This message came to me concerning Babylon—the desert by the sea : Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert, like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.
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A Message concerning the desert at the sea: As tempests drive through the Negev Desert, coming out of the desert, that terror-filled place,
2 I see a terrifying vision: I see the betrayer betraying, the destroyer destroying. Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes, attack and lay siege. I will make an end to all the groaning Babylon caused.
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A hard vision is given me: The betrayer betrayed, the plunderer plundered. Attack, Elam! Lay siege, Media! Persians, attack! Attack, Babylon! I'll put an end to all the moaning and groaning.
3 My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me, like those of a woman in labor. I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am too afraid to look.
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Because of this news I'm doubled up in pain, writhing in pain like a woman having a baby, Baffled by what I hear, undone by what I see.
4 My mind reels and my heart races. I longed for evening to come, but now I am terrified of the dark.
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Absolutely stunned, horror-stricken, I had hoped for a relaxed evening, but it has turned into a nightmare.
5 Look! They are preparing a great feast. They are spreading rugs for people to sit on. Everyone is eating and drinking. But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle. You are being attacked!
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The banquet is spread, the guests reclining in luxurious ease, Eating and drinking, having a good time, and then, "To arms, princes! The fight is on!"
6 Meanwhile, the Lord said to me, “Put a watchman on the city wall. Let him shout out what he sees.
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The Master told me, "Go, post a lookout. Have him report whatever he spots.
7 He should look for chariots drawn by pairs of horses, and for riders on donkeys and camels. Let the watchman be fully alert.”
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When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation, lines of donkeys and columns of camels, Tell him to keep his ear to the ground, note every whisper, every rumor."
8 Then the watchman called out, “Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord. Night after night I have remained at my post.
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Just then, the lookout shouted, "I'm at my post, Master, Sticking to my post day after day and all through the night!
9 Now at last—look! Here comes a man in a chariot with a pair of horses!” Then the watchman said, “Babylon is fallen, fallen! All the idols of Babylon lie broken on the ground!”
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I watched them come, the horses and wagons in battle formation. I heard them call out the war news in headlines: 'Babylon fallen! Fallen! And all its precious god-idols smashed to pieces on the ground.'"
10 O my people, threshed and winnowed, I have told you everything the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said, everything the God of Israel has told me.
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Dear Israel, you've been through a lot, you've been put through the mill. The good news I get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, I now pass on to you.
11 This message came to me concerning Edom : Someone from Edom keeps calling to me, “Watchman, how much longer until morning? When will the night be over?”
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A Message concerning Edom: A voice calls to me from the Seir mountains in Edom, "Night watchman! How long till daybreak? How long will this night last?"
12 The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but night will soon return. If you wish to ask again, then come back and ask.”
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The night watchman calls back, "Morning's coming, But for now it's still night. If you ask me again, I'll give the same answer."
13 This message came to me concerning Arabia: O caravans from Dedan, hide in the deserts of Arabia.
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A Message concerning Arabia: You'll have to camp out in the desert badlands, you caravans of Dedanites.
14 O people of Tema, bring water to these thirsty people, food to these weary refugees.
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Haul water to the thirsty, greet fugitives with bread. Show your desert hospitality, you who live in Tema.
15 They have fled from the sword, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and the terrors of battle.
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The desert's swarming with refugees escaping the horrors of war.
16 The Lord said to me, “Within a year, counting each day, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
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The Master told me, "Hang on. Within one year - I'll sign a contract on it! - the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over,
17 Only a few of its courageous archers will survive. I, the LORD, the God of Israel, have spoken!”
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nothing much left of the Kedar toughs." The God of Israel says so.