The Lord’s Reply

5The Lord replied,

“Look around at the nations;

look and be amazed!*1:5 Greek version reads Look, you mockers; / look and be amazed and die. Compare Acts 13:41.

For I am doing something in your own day,

something you wouldn’t believe

even if someone told you about it.

6I am raising up the Babylonians,*1:6 Or Chaldeans.

a cruel and violent people.

They will march across the world

and conquer other lands.

7They are notorious for their cruelty

and do whatever they like.

8Their horses are swifter than cheetahs*1:8 Or leopards.

and fiercer than wolves at dusk.

Their charioteers charge from far away.

Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.

9“On they come, all bent on violence.

Their hordes advance like a desert wind,

sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.

10They scoff at kings and princes

and scorn all their fortresses.

They simply pile ramps of earth

against their walls and capture them!

11They sweep past like the wind

and are gone.

But they are deeply guilty,

for their own strength is their god.”