²⁶ They skim past^(A) like boats of papyrus,^(B)
    like eagles swooping down on their prey.^(C)

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,^(C)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive^(D) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.^(E)

¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
    than eagles^(A) in the sky;
they chased us^(B) over the mountains
    and lay in wait for us in the desert.^(C)

¹³ Look! He advances like the clouds,^(A)
    his chariots^(B) come like a whirlwind,^(C)
his horses^(D) are swifter than eagles.^(E)
    Woe to us! We are ruined!^(F)

²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command
    and build its nest on high?^(A)
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
    a rocky crag^(B) is its stronghold.
²⁹ From there it looks for food;^(C)
    its eyes detect it from afar.
³⁰ Its young ones feast on blood,
    and where the slain are, there it is.”^(D)

²³ Saul and Jonathan—
    in life they were loved and admired,
    and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,^(A)
    they were stronger than lions.^(B)