^11 (A)I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
    ^(B)a lair of jackals,
^(C)and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
    without inhabitant.”

⁶ For behold, ^(A)I am raising up the Chaldeans,
    that bitter and hasty nation,
^(B)who march through the breadth of the earth,
    ^(C)to seize dwellings not their own.
⁷ They are dreaded and fearsome;
    ^(D)their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
^8 (E)Their horses are swifter than leopards,
    more fierce than ^(F)the evening wolves;
    their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
    ^(G)they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
⁹ They all come ^(H)for violence,
    all their faces forward.
    They gather captives ^(I)like sand.

6 Flee for safety, ^(A)O people of Benjamin,
    from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in ^(B)Tekoa,
    and raise a signal on ^(C)Beth-haccherem,
for disaster looms ^(D)out of the north,
    and great destruction.

^15 (A)Behold, I am bringing against you
    a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.
It is an enduring nation;
    it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
    ^(B)nor can you understand what they say.

^6 (A)Raise a standard toward Zion,
    flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from ^(B)the north,
    ^(C)and great destruction.