Like whirlwinds^(C) sweeping through the southland,^(D)
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.

² A dire^(E) vision has been shown to me:
    The traitor betrays,^(F) the looter takes loot.
Elam,^(G) attack! Media,^(H) lay siege!
    I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

³ At this my body is racked with pain,^(I)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;^(J)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered^(K) by what I see.
⁴ My heart^(L) falters,
    fear makes me tremble;^(M)
the twilight I longed for
    has become a horror^(N) to me.

⁵ They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!^(O)
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!^(P)

“Go, post a lookout^(Q)
    and have him report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees chariots^(R)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,^(S)
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
⁹ Look, here comes a man in a chariot^(U)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon^(V) has fallen,^(W) has fallen!
All the images of its gods^(X)
    lie shattered^(Y) on the ground!’”

¹⁰ My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,^(Z)
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.

Someone calls to me from Seir,^(AB)
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”
¹² The watchman replies,
    “Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
    and come back yet again.”

You caravans of Dedanites,^(AE)
    who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
¹⁴     bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,^(AF)
    bring food for the fugitives.
¹⁵ They flee^(AG) from the sword,^(AH)
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
    and from the heat of battle.

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,^(D)
2 you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult^(E) and revelry?^(F)
Your slain^(G) were not killed by the sword,^(H)
    nor did they die in battle.
³ All your leaders have fled^(I) together;
    they have been captured^(J) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
⁴ Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep^(K) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”^(L)

⁵ The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day^(M)
    of tumult and trampling^(N) and terror^(O)
    in the Valley of Vision,^(P)
a day of battering down walls^(Q)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
⁶ Elam^(R) takes up the quiver,^(S)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir^(T) uncovers the shield.
⁷ Your choicest valleys^(U) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.^(V)

⁸ The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day^(W)
    to the weapons^(X) in the Palace of the Forest.^(Y)
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through^(Z) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.^(AA)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses^(AB) to strengthen the wall.^(AC)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls^(AD)
    for the water of the Old Pool,^(AE)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard^(AF) for the One who planned^(AG) it long ago.

¹² The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day^(AH)
to weep^(AI) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair^(AJ) and put on sackcloth.^(AK)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,^(AL)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!^(AM)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”^(AN)

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna^(AQ) the palace^(AR) administrator:^(AS)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave^(AT) for yourself^(AU) here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

¹⁷ “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl^(AV) you away, you mighty man.
¹⁸ He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw^(AW) you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots^(AX) you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
¹⁹ I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted^(AY) from your position.^(AZ)

Wail,^(B) you ships^(C) of Tarshish!^(D)
    For Tyre is destroyed^(E)
    and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
    word has come to them.

² Be silent,^(F) you people of the island
    and you merchants^(G) of Sidon,^(H)
    whom the seafarers have enriched.
³ On the great waters
    came the grain of the Shihor;^(I)
the harvest of the Nile^[a](J) was the revenue of Tyre,^(K)
    and she became the marketplace of the nations.

⁴ Be ashamed, Sidon,^(L) and you fortress of the sea,
    for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;^(M)
    I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
⁵ When word comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish^(N) at the report from Tyre.^(O)

⁶ Cross over to Tarshish;^(P)
    wail, you people of the island.
⁷ Is this your city of revelry,^(Q)
    the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
    to settle in far-off lands?
⁸ Who planned this against Tyre,
    the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants^(R) are princes,
    whose traders^(S) are renowned in the earth?
⁹ The Lord Almighty planned^(T) it,
    to bring down^(U) her pride in all her splendor
    and to humble^(V) all who are renowned^(W) on the earth.

¹⁰ Till^[b] your land as they do along the Nile,
    Daughter Tarshish,
    for you no longer have a harbor.
¹¹ The Lord has stretched out his hand^(X) over the sea
    and made its kingdoms tremble.^(Y)
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
    that her fortresses be destroyed.^(Z)
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,^(AA)
    Virgin Daughter^(AB) Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;^(AC)
    even there you will find no rest.”
¹³ Look at the land of the Babylonians,^[c](AD)
    this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians^(AE) have made it
    a place for desert creatures;^(AF)
they raised up their siege towers,^(AG)
    they stripped its fortresses bare
    and turned it into a ruin.^(AH)

¹⁴ Wail, you ships^(AI) of Tarshish;^(AJ)
    your fortress is destroyed!^(AK)

¹⁶ “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
    you forgotten prostitute;^(AN)
play the harp well, sing many a song,
    so that you will be remembered.”