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.