Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageA hard vision has been revealed to me: the traitor betrays and the destroyer destroys. March, Elam! Besiege, Media! I will put an end to all the groaning she has caused.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GA grievous vision has been made known to me: the betrayer betrays, the ravager ravages. Rise up, Elam! Lay siege, Madai! All its groaning I have brought to an end.
KJV
King James VersionA grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleA dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
Footnotes
The doubled Hebrew wordplay *ha-boged boded ve-ha-shoded shoded* ("the betrayer betrays, the ravager ravages") uses verb-noun repetition to convey relentless, compounding treachery — perhaps Babylon's own history of betrayal now visited back upon her. *Elam* and *Madai* (Media) are the two peoples God commissions as agents of judgement, historically fulfilled in the Medo-Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE. The final clause is deliberately ambiguous: "all its groaning I have brought to an end" may refer either to the cessation of Babylon's insolent roaring or to the groaning of those she oppressed. FOG preserves the ambiguity; FOG Message tilts toward the liberating reading — the end of suffering rather than the end of arrogance.