1 I will go up to the lookout tower. I'll station myself on the city wall. I'll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me. Then I'll try to figure out how to answer him.
2 The Lord replies, "Write down the message I am showing you in a vision. Write it clearly on the tablets you use. Then a messenger can read it and run to announce it.
3 The message I give you waits for the time I have appointed. It speaks about what is going to happen. And all of it will come true. It might take a while. But wait for it. You can be sure it will come. It will happen when I want it to.
4 "The Babylonians are very proud. What they want is not good. "But the one who is right with God will live by faith.
5 "Wine makes the Babylonians do foolish things. They are proud. They never rest. Like the grave, they are always hungry for more. Like death, they are never satisfied. They gather all of the nations to themselves. They take their people away as prisoners.