⁶ I am raising up the Babylonians,^[a](A)
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth^(B)
    to seize dwellings not their own.^(C)
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;^(D)
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.
⁸ Their horses are swifter^(E) than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves^(F) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
⁹     they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes^[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners^(G) like sand.
¹⁰ They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.^(H)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps^(I) they capture them.
¹¹ Then they sweep past like the wind^(J) and go on—
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”^(K)

¹² Lord, are you not from everlasting?^(L)
    My God, my Holy One,^(M) you^[c] will never die.^(N)
You, Lord, have appointed^(O) them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock,^(P) have ordained them to punish.
¹³ Your eyes are too pure^(Q) to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.^(R)
Why then do you tolerate^(S) the treacherous?^(T)
    Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?^(U)
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
¹⁵ The wicked^(V) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,^(W)
    he catches them in his net,^(X)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.
¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense^(Y) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
    and enjoys the choicest food.
¹⁷ Is he to keep on emptying his net,
    destroying nations without mercy?^(Z)