⁷ How fearsome and frightening.
Their only laws and rules
    are the ones they make up.
⁸ Their cavalry troops are faster
    than leopards,
more ferocious than wolves
    hunting at sunset,
and swifter than hungry eagles
    suddenly swooping down.

⁹ They are eager to destroy,^[b]
and they gather captives
    like handfuls of sand.
¹⁰ They make fun of rulers
    and laugh at fortresses,
while building dirt mounds
    so they can capture cities.^[c]
11 Then suddenly they disappear
    like a gust of wind—
those sinful people who worship
    their own strength.

¹⁴ The people you put on this earth
are like fish or reptiles
    without a leader.
¹⁵ Then an enemy comes along
and takes them captive
    with hooks and nets.
It makes him so happy
¹⁶ that he offers sacrifices
    to his fishing nets,
because they make him rich
    and provide choice foods.
¹⁷ Will he keep hauling in his nets
and destroying nations
    without showing mercy?

^4 (D) “I, the Lord, refuse to accept
    anyone who is proud.
Only those who live by faith
    are acceptable to me.”^[h]

⁶ But they will be mocked
with these words:
    You're doomed!
You stored up stolen goods
and cheated others
    of what belonged to them.
⁷ But without warning,
those you owe
    will demand payment.
Then you will become
    a frightened victim.
⁸ You robbed cities and nations
everywhere on earth
    and murdered their people.
Now those who survived
    will be as cruel to you.

⁹ You're doomed!
You made your family rich
    at the expense of others.
You even said to yourself,
    “I'm above the law.”
¹⁰ But you will bring shame
    on your family
and ruin to yourself
    for what you did to others.
¹¹ The very stones and wood
in your home
    will testify against you.

¹² You're doomed! You built a city
    on crime and violence.
^13 (E) But the Lord All-Powerful
    sends up in flames
what nations and people
    work so hard to gain.

^14 (F) Just as water fills the sea,
    the land will be filled
with people who know
    and honor the Lord.

¹⁵ You're doomed!
You get your friends drunk,
    just to see them naked.
¹⁶ Now you will be disgraced
    instead of praised.
The Lord will make you drunk,
and when others see you naked,
    you will lose their respect.
¹⁷ You destroyed trees and animals
    on Mount Lebanon;
you were ruthless to towns
    and people everywhere.
Now you will be terrorized.

²⁰ Let all the world be silent—
the Lord is present
    in his holy temple.

³ You are the same Holy God
who came from Teman
    and Paran^[k] to help us.
The brightness of your glory
    covered the heavens,
and your praises were heard
    everywhere on earth.
⁴ Your glory shone like the sun,
and light flashed from your hands,
    hiding your mighty power.
⁵ Dreadful diseases and plagues
marched in front
    and followed behind.
⁶ When you stopped,
    the earth shook;
when you stared,
    nations trembled;
when you walked
    along your ancient paths,
eternal mountains and hills
    crumbled and collapsed.
⁷ The tents of desert tribes
in Cushan and Midian^[l]
    were ripped apart.

⁸ Our Lord, were you angry
with the monsters
    of the deep?^[m]
You attacked in your chariot
    and wiped them out.
⁹ Your arrows were ready
    and obeyed your commands.^[n]

You split the earth apart
    with rivers and streams;
¹⁰ mountains trembled
    at the sight of you;
rain poured from the clouds;
    ocean waves roared and rose.
¹¹ The sun and moon stood still,
while your arrows and spears
    flashed like lightning.

¹² In your furious anger,
    you trampled on nations
¹³ to rescue your people
    and save your chosen one.^[o]
You crushed a nation's ruler
and stripped his evil kingdom
    of its power.^[p]
14 His troops had come like a storm,
hoping to scatter us
    and glad to gobble us up.
To them we were refugees
    in hiding—
but you smashed their heads
    with their own weapons.^[q]
15 Then your chariots churned
    the waters of the sea.

To the music director:
Use stringed instruments.