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21 A prophecy about the coastal desert:

Like whirlwinds sweeping over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from a fearsome land.
A dire vision has been shown to me:
the betrayer betrays, and the spoiler spoils.
‘Eilam, advance! Madai, lay siege!
I will end all groaning.
This is why my insides are racked with pain;
I am seized by pangs, like a woman in labor;
wrenched by what I hear,
aghast at what I see.
My mind reels, shuddering assails me.
The twilight I longed for terrifies me.
They set the table, light the lamps,
eat and drink —
“Get going, princes! Oil the shields!”
For this is what Adonai said to me:
“Go, post a watchman to report what he sees!
If he sees the cavalry, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
he must be on alert, on full alert!”
He calls out like a lion: “My lord,
I stand on the watchtower all day long,
I stay at my post all night.”
Then, as they appeared — the cavalry,
horsemen in pairs — he spoke these words:
“She has fallen! She has fallen — Bavel!
All the carved images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground.”
10 My people, who have been threshed,
grain trodden down on my threshing-floor:
I am telling you what I have heard
from Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el.

11 A prophecy about Dumah:

Someone is calling to me from Se‘ir:
“Watchman, how much longer is it night?
Watchman, how much longer is it night?”
12 The watchman answers:
“Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you want to ask, ask! Come back again!”

13 A prophecy about Arabia:

You caravans of D’danim will camp
in the desert growth of Arabia.
14 Bring water to the thirsty, you who live in Teima,
greet the fugitives with food;
15 because they are fleeing the sword, the drawn sword,
the bent bow and the press of battle.

16 For this is what Adonai has told me: “Within a year [and not a day more], as if a hired worker were keeping track of the time, the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17 Few of Kedar’s valiant archers will be left. ” Adonai the God of Isra’el has spoken.

22 A prophecy about the Valley of Vision:

Tell me what is wrong with you,
that you have all gone up on the roofs.
You city full of noise, confusion
and boisterous excitement,
your slain did not fall to the sword,
nor did they die in battle.
All your leaders fled together
and were captured without the use of a bow;
all from you who were found were captured,
even though they had fled far away.
This is why I said, “Don’t look at me,
leave me alone to weep bitterly,
don’t try to comfort me
over the destruction of my people.”
For it is a day of panic,
trampling and confusion
from Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
in the Valley of Vision.
With walls crashing down,
they cry for help to the mountains.
‘Eilam picks up the quivers,
with cavalry and horsemen,
and Kir uncovers the shields.
In time, your choicest valleys
are overrun by chariots,
and the cavalry take their posts by the gate;
thus is Y’hudah’s protection removed.

That day you looked for the armor
in the House of the Forest.
You saw how many breaches there were
in the City of David,
you collected water from the lower pool,
10 you surveyed the houses in Yerushalayim,
tearing some down to fortify the wall.
11 You also built a reservoir between the two walls
for the water from the Old Pool;
but you didn’t look to Him who made these things;
you had no respect for Him who fashioned them long ago.

12 That day Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
called on you to weep and mourn,
to shave your heads and wear sackcloth;
13 but instead, one sees joy and celebrating,
killing of oxen, slaughtering of sheep,
eating of meat, drinking of wine —
“Let’s eat and drink now,
because tomorrow we’ll be dead!”

14 Then Adonai-Tzva’ot revealed himself in my ears: “You will not atone for this iniquity until you die.” This is what Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot says.

15 Thus says Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot: “Go and find that steward, Shevna, administrator of the palace, and ask him:

16 ‘What do you own here,
and who gave you the right
to cut yourself a tomb here?
Why do you get such an eminent tomb?
Why are you carving a resting-place
for yourself in the rock?’”

17 Look, strong man! Adonai is about
to throw you out! He will grab you,
18 roll you up, and toss you around
like a ball in the open country.
There you will die, with your fancy chariots,
you disgrace to your master’s palace!

19 “I will remove you from your office,
I will snatch you from your post.
20 When that day comes, I will summon
my servant Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu.
21 I will dress him in your robe,
gird him with your sash of office,
and invest him with your authority.
He will be a father to the people
living in Yerushalayim
and to the house of Y’hudah.
22 I will place the key of David’s house
on his shoulder;
no one will shut what he opens;
no one will open what he shuts.

23 “I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg, so that he will become a seat of honor for his clan. 24 They will hang on him all the weight of his clan, descendants and offspring, as well as all the vessels of small capacity, from pitchers to cups. 25 When that day comes, the peg fastened firmly in place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the weight that was on it will be cut off.” For Adonai has said it.

23 A prophecy about Tzor:

Howl, you “Tarshish” ships,
because the harbor is destroyed!
On returning from Kittim,
they discover they cannot enter it.
Silence, you who live on the coast,
you who have been enriched
by the merchants of Tzidon crossing the sea.
By the great water the grain of Shichor,
the harvest of the Nile, brought you profits.
She was marketplace for the nations.
Shame, Tzidon, for the sea speaks;
the fortress of the sea says,
“I no longer have labor pains or bear children,
yet I have raised neither boys nor girls.”
When the report reaches Egypt,
they will be in anguish at the fate of Tzor.

Cross over to Tarshish!
Howl, you who live on the coast!
Is this your boisterous city,
whose feet long ago in antiquity
carried her off to found distant colonies?
Who planned this against Tzor,
the city that once bestowed crowns,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are honored throughout the earth?
Adonai-Tzva’ot planned it
to break the pride of all the arrogant,
to humiliate all those who are honored
everywhere on earth.
10 People of Tarshish!
Nothing restricts you now.
You can flow freely over your land
just like the Nile River.

11 He has stretched out his hand against the sea,
he has shaken kingdoms;
Adonai has ordered that Kena‘an’s
fortresses be destroyed.
12 He has said, “Exult no more,
oppressed virgin daughter of Tzidon.
Arise, cross to Kittim;
even there you will find no rest.”

13 Look at the land of the Kasdim!
This was the people who did not exist
when Ashur destined it for desert creatures.
They erected their siege towers
and tore down her palaces,
so that it has been made a ruin.
14 Howl, you “Tarshish” ships,
because your fortress is destroyed.

15 When that day comes, Tzor will be forgotten for seventy years, the lifetime of a king. After seventy years, its fate will be the same as that of the prostitute in this song:

16 “Take a lyre, walk the city,
you poor, forgotten whore!
Play sweetly, sing all your songs,
so that they will remember you!”

17 After seventy years are over Adonai will remember Tzor. She will receive her wages again and prostitute herself to all the world’s kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 But her merchandise and profits will be dedicated to Adonai; they will not be stored up or hoarded, because her profits will be for those living in Adonai’s presence, so that they can eat their fill and wear fine clothing.

24 Look! Adonai is stripping
and destroying the land,
turning it upside down
and scattering its inhabitants —
cohen and commoner, slave and master,
maid and mistress, buyer and seller,
lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.
The land will be completely stripped,
completely plundered,
for Adonai has spoken this word.
The land fades and withers,
the world wilts and withers,
the exalted of the land languish.
The land lies defiled under its inhabitants;
because they have transgressed the teachings,
changed the law
and broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore a curse is devouring the land,
and its inhabitants are punished for their guilt.
It is why those living there waste away,
and the people left are few.
The new wine fails, the vines wilt,
all the revelers sigh,
the happy sound of tambourines ceases,
the shouts of merrymakers are stilled,
the joy of the lyre ends.
They no longer sing as they drink their wine,
strong liquor tastes bitter to those drinking it.
10 The city of chaos is shattered,
every house closed up; no one can enter.
11 In the streets they are crying over the wine;
all joy has faded, cheer has left the land.
12 In the city, only desolation,
its gates are battered beyond repair.

13 Around the earth, among the peoples,
it will be as when beating an olive tree,
as when gleaning the grapes at the end of the harvest.
14 They lift their voices, singing for joy,
shouting from the west to honor Adonai.
15 So in the east, honor Adonai ;
in the coastlands, honor the name of Adonai,
the God of Isra’el.
16 From the farthest part of the earth
we have heard them sing,
“Glory to the Righteous One!”

But, I say, I’m wasting away,
I am wasting away!
Woe to me! Traitors betray!
Oh, how the traitors betray and betray!
17 Terror, pit and trap are upon you,
you who are living on earth.
18 He who flees at the sound of terror
will fall into the pit.
He who climbs up out of the pit
will be caught in the trap.
For the windows above have been opened,
and the earth’s foundations shake.
19 The earth cracks and breaks open,
the earth crumbles to pieces,
the earth trembles and totters.
20 The earth staggers to and fro like a drunk,
sways back and forth like a watchman’s shelter;
its transgression weighs heavy upon it;
it will fall and not rise again.
21 When that day comes, Adonai will punish
the armies of the high heaven on high,
and the kings of the earth here on earth.
22 They will be assembled like prisoners in a dungeon
and shut up in prison to be punished many years.
23 Then the moon will be confused and the sun ashamed,
for Adonai-Tzva’ot will rule on Mount Tziyon
and in Yerushalayim,
with his glory manifest to the rulers of his people.

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