A message about the destruction of Babylon

21 I received this message from Yahweh about Babylonia, a land that is near the Persian Gulf but which will soon be a desert.

An army will soon come from the desert to invade that land;

it is an army that causes its enemies to be terrified,

an army that will come like a whirlwind from the south.

2 Yahweh showed me a terrifying vision.

In the vision I saw an army

that will betray/deceive people and steal their possessions after they conquer them.

Yahweh said, “You armies from Elam and Media, surround Babylon and prepare to attack it!

I will cause the groaning and suffering that Babylon caused to cease!”

3 Because of that, my body is full of pain;

my pain is like the pain that women who are giving birth experience.

When I hear about and see what God is planning to do,

I am shocked.

4 I cannot think straight/correctly, and I tremble.

I was eager for it to be nighttime,

but now it is night, and I am horrified.

5 In the vision I saw that the leaders of Babylonia were preparing a great feast.

They had spread rugs for people to sit on;

everyone was eating and drinking.

But they should get up and prepare their shields,

because they are about to be attacked!

6 Then Yahweh said to me,

“Put a watchman on the wall of Jerusalem,

and tell him to shout/proclaim what he sees.

7 Tell him to watch for chariots pulled by pairs of horses,

and men riding camels and donkeys, coming from Babylon.

Tell the watchman to watch and listen carefully!”

8 So I did that, and one day the watchman called out,

“Day after day I have stood on this watchtower,

and I have continued to watch during the day and during the night.

9 Now, I saw a man riding in a chariot pulled by two horses.

I called out to him, and he answered/shouted,

‘Babylon has been destroyed!

All the idols in Babylon lie in pieces on the ground!’”

10 My people in Judah, the army of Babylon has caused you to suffer greatly

as though [MET] you were grain that was threshed and ◄winnowed/thrown up into the air for the wind to blow away the chaff►.

But now I have told you what the Commander of the armies of angels the God whom we Israelis worship, told me about Babylon.