¹¹ Come quickly,^[a]
    all you nations all around;
    gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O Lord.^(B)

¹¹ Sharpen the arrows!
    Fill the quivers!

¹² Raise a standard against the walls of Babylon;
    make the watch strong;
post sentinels;
    prepare the ambushes,
for the Lord has both planned and done
    what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.^(B)

³ Prepare buckler and shield,
    and advance for battle!^(A)
4 Harness the horses;
    mount the steeds!
Take your stations with helmets on,
    whet the lances,
    put on coats of mail!
⁵ Why do I see them terrified?
    They have fallen back;
their warriors are beaten down
    and have fled in haste.
They do not look back—
    terror is all around!
            says the Lord.^(B)
6 The swift cannot flee away,
    nor can the warrior escape;
in the north by the River Euphrates
    they have stumbled and fallen.^(C)

⁷ Who is this, rising like the Nile,
    like rivers whose waters surge?^(D)
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers whose waters surge.
It said, “Let me rise; let me cover the earth;
    let me destroy cities and their inhabitants.”^(E)
9 Advance, O horses,
    and dash madly, O chariots!
Let the warriors go forth:
    Cush and Put, who carry the shield,
    the Ludim, who draw^[a] the bow.^(F)
10 That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    a day of retribution,
    to gain vindication from his foes.
The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice
    in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.^(G)

¹⁴ Draw water for the siege;
    strengthen your forts;
trample the clay;
    tread the mortar;
    take hold of the brick mold!
¹⁵ There the fire will devour you;
    the sword will cut you off.
    It will devour you like the locust.

Multiply yourselves like the locust;
    multiply like the grasshopper!^(A)