²⁸ Their arrows are sharp,^(A)
    all their bows^(B) are strung;
their horses’ hooves^(C) seem like flint,
    their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.^(D)

⁵ Let your sharp arrows^(A) pierce the hearts^(B) of the king’s enemies;^(C)
    let the nations fall beneath your feet.

³ The shields of the soldiers are red;
    the warriors are clad in scarlet.^(A)
The metal on the chariots flashes
    on the day they are made ready;
    the spears of juniper are brandished.^[a]
4 The chariots^(B) storm through the streets,
    rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
    they dart about like lightning.

¹³ “Rise and thresh,^(A) Daughter Zion,
    for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
    and you will break to pieces many nations.”^(B)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,^(C)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

“‘A sword, a sword,
    sharpened and polished—
¹⁰ sharpened for the slaughter,^(A)
    polished to flash like lightning!

¹¹ “‘The sword is appointed to be polished,^(C)
    to be grasped with the hand;
it is sharpened and polished,
    made ready for the hand of the slayer.

³ at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
    at the noise of enemy chariots^(A)
    and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
    their hands will hang limp.^(B)

¹⁶ Their quivers^(A) are like an open grave;
    all of them are mighty warriors.

Like whirlwinds^(C) sweeping through the southland,^(D)
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.