¹⁹ Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight.
    If we fled to the mountains, they found us.
If we hid in the wilderness,
    they were waiting for us there.

⁸ Their horses are swifter than cheetahs^[a]
    and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
    Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.

¹³ Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds!
    His chariots are like whirlwinds.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
    How terrible it will be, for we are doomed!

²⁶ He will send a signal to distant nations far away
    and whistle to those at the ends of the earth.
    They will come racing toward Jerusalem.
²⁷ They will not get tired or stumble.
    They will not stop for rest or sleep.
Not a belt will be loose,
    not a sandal strap broken.
²⁸ Their arrows will be sharp
    and their bows ready for battle.
Sparks will fly from their horses’ hooves,
    and the wheels of their chariots will spin like a whirlwind.

¹⁶ You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
    They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
    is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
¹⁷ One of them will chase a thousand of you.
    Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
    or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”

“Strike the tops of the Temple columns,
    so that the foundation will shake.
Bring down the roof
    on the heads of the people below.
I will kill with the sword those who survive.
    No one will escape!

² “Even if they dig down to the place of the dead,^[a]
    I will reach down and pull them up.
Even if they climb up into the heavens,
    I will bring them down.
³ Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel,
    I will search them out and capture them.
Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean,
    I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.