^vAs whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,

it comes from the wilderness,

from a terrible land.

2  A stern vision is told to me;

^wthe traitor betrays,

and the destroyer destroys.

Go up, O ^xElam;

lay siege, O ^yMedia;

all the ^zsighing she has caused

I bring to an end.

3  Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

^apangs have seized me,

like the pangs of a woman in labor;

I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;

I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

4  My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;

^bthe twilight I longed for

has been turned for me into trembling.

5  ^cThey prepare the table,

they spread the rugs,¹

they eat, they drink.

Arise, O princes;

^doil the shield!

6  For thus the Lord said to me:

“Go, set a watchman;

let him announce what he sees.

7  When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

riders on donkeys, riders on camels,

let him listen diligently,

very diligently.”

8  Then he who saw cried out:²

^e“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,

continually by day,

and at my post I am stationed

whole nights.

9  And behold, here come riders,

horsemen in pairs!”

^fAnd he answered,

^g“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

^hand all the carved images of her gods

he has shattered to the ground.”

10  O ⁱmy threshed and winnowed one,

what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel, I announce to you.

One is calling to me from ^lSeir,

“Watchman, what time of the night?

Watchman, what time of the night?”

12  The watchman says:

“Morning comes, and also ^mthe night.

If you will inquire, ⁿinquire;

come back again.”

In the thickets in ^pArabia you will lodge,

O ^qcaravans of ^pDedanites.

14  To the thirsty bring water;

meet the fugitive with bread,

O inhabitants of the land of ^rTema.

15  For they have fled from the swords,

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow,

and from the press of battle.

What do you mean that you have gone up,

all of you, to the housetops,

2  you who are full of shoutings,

tumultuous city, ^xexultant town?

Your slain are ^ynot slain with the sword

or dead in battle.

3  ^zAll your leaders have fled together;

without the bow they were captured.

All of you who were found were captured,

though they had fled far away.

4  Therefore I said:

“Look away from me;

^alet me weep bitter tears;

do not labor to comfort me

concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

5  ^bFor the Lord God of hosts has ^ca day

of tumult and ^dtrampling and ^econfusion

in ^wthe valley of vision,

a battering down of walls

and a shouting to the mountains.

6  And ^fElam bore the quiver

with chariots and horsemen,

and ^gKir uncovered the shield.

7  Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,

and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.

8  He has taken away ^hthe covering of Judah.

12  In that day ^othe Lord God of hosts

called for weeping and mourning,

for ^pbaldness and ^qwearing sackcloth;

13  and behold, joy and gladness,

killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,

eating flesh and drinking wine.

^r“Let us eat and drink,

for tomorrow we die.”

14  The Lord of hosts ^shas revealed himself in my ears:

“Surely ^tthis iniquity will not be atoned for you ^uuntil you die,”

says the Lord God of hosts.

Wail, O ^kships of Tarshish,

for Tyre is laid waste, ^lwithout house or harbor!

From ^mthe land of Cyprus³

it is revealed to them.

2  Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

the merchants of ⁿSidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.

3  And on many waters

your revenue was the grain of Shihor,

the harvest of the Nile;

you were ^othe merchant of the nations.

4  Be ashamed, O ⁿSidon, for the sea has spoken,

the stronghold of the sea, saying:

“I have neither labored nor given birth,

I have neither reared young men

nor brought up young women.”

5  When the report comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguish⁴ over the report about Tyre.

6  ^pCross over to Tarshish;

wail, O inhabitants of the coast!

7  Is this your exultant city

^qwhose origin is from days of old,

whose feet carried her

to settle far away?

8  Who has purposed this

against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants were princes,

whose traders were the honored of the earth?

9  The Lord of hosts has purposed it,

^rto defile the pompous pride of all glory,⁵

to dishonor all the honored of the earth.

10  Cross over your land like the Nile,

O daughter of Tarshish;

there is no restraint anymore.

11  ^sHe has stretched out his hand over the sea;

he has shaken the kingdoms;

the Lord has given command concerning Canaan

to destroy its strongholds.

12  And he said:

“You will no more exult,

O oppressed virgin daughter of ^tSidon;

arise, ^ucross over to ^vCyprus,

even there you will have no rest.”

14  ^yWail, O ships of Tarshish,

for your stronghold is laid waste.

16  “Take a harp;

go about the city,

O forgotten prostitute!

Make sweet melody;

sing many songs,

that you may be remembered.”

1  Behold, ^cthe Lord will empty the earth⁸ and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

2  ^dAnd it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;

as with the slave, so with his master;

as with the maid, so with her mistress;

^eas with the buyer, so with the seller;

as with the lender, so with the borrower;

^fas with the creditor, so with the debtor.

3  ^gThe earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

^hfor the Lord has spoken this word.

4  ⁱThe earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

5  The earth lies ^jdefiled

under its inhabitants;

for ^kthey have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

6  Therefore ^la curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants ^msuffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,

and few men are left.

7  ⁿThe wine mourns,

the vine languishes,

all the merry-hearted sigh.

8  ^oThe mirth of the tambourines is stilled,

the noise of the jubilant has ceased,

the mirth of the lyre is stilled.

9  No more do they drink wine ^pwith singing;

strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

10  ^qThe wasted city is broken down;

^revery house is shut up so that none can enter.

11  ^sThere is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

^tall joy has grown dark;

the gladness of the earth is banished.

12  Desolation is left in the city;

the gates are battered into ruins.

13  For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth

among the nations,

^uas when an olive tree is beaten,

as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

14  They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;

over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.⁹

15  ^vTherefore in the east¹⁰ give glory to the Lord;

in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

16  ^wFrom the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,

of glory to ^xthe Righteous One.

But I say, “I waste away,

I waste away. Woe is me!

For ^ythe traitors have betrayed,

with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

17  ^zTerror and the pit and the snare¹¹

are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!

18  ^zHe who flees at the sound of the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and he who climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the snare.

For ^athe windows of heaven are opened,

and ^bthe foundations of the earth tremble.

19  The earth is utterly broken,

the earth is split apart,

the earth is violently shaken.

20  The earth ^cstaggers like a drunken man;

it sways like a hut;

^dits transgression lies heavy upon it,

and it falls, and will not rise again.

21  On that day the Lord will punish

the host of heaven, in heaven,

and ^ethe kings of the earth, on the earth.

22  ^fThey will be gathered together

as prisoners in a pit;

they will be shut up in a prison,

and after many days ^gthey will be punished.

23  ^hThen the moon will be confounded

and the sun ashamed,

for ⁱthe Lord of hosts reigns

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

and his glory will be before his elders.