⁵ With a noise like that of chariots^(A)
    they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire^(B) consuming stubble,
    like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

⁶ At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;^(C)
    every face turns pale.^(D)
7 They charge like warriors;^(E)
    they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,^(F)
    not swerving^(G) from their course.
⁸ They do not jostle each other;
    each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
    without breaking ranks.

⁴ The chariots^(A) storm through the streets,
    rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
    they dart about like lightning.

⁵ Nineveh summons her picked troops,
    yet they stumble^(B) on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
    the protective shield is put in place.

¹⁸ Its bones are tubes of bronze,
    its limbs^(A) like rods of iron.^(B)

²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet^(A) it snorts, ‘Aha!’
    It catches the scent of battle from afar,
    the shout of commanders and the battle cry.^(B)

⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,^(A)
    will be fuel for the fire.

²³ The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
    they are firm and immovable.
²⁴ Its chest is hard as rock,
    hard as a lower millstone.^(A)
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;^(B)
    they retreat before its thrashing.^(C)
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect,
    nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.^(D)
27 Iron it treats like straw^(E)
    and bronze like rotten wood.
²⁸ Arrows do not make it flee;^(F)
    slingstones are like chaff to it.
²⁹ A club seems to it but a piece of straw;^(G)
    it laughs^(H) at the rattling of the lance.
³⁰ Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
    leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.^(I)