⁵ As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.^(A)

⁴ The chariots race madly through the streets;
    they rush to and fro through the squares;
their appearance is like torches;
    they dart like lightning.^(A)
5 He calls his officers;
    they stumble as they come forward;
they hasten to the wall,
    and the screen^[a] is set up.

¹⁸ Its bones are tubes of bronze,
    its limbs like bars of iron.

²⁵ When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’
    From a distance it smells the battle,
    the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.^(A)

⁵ For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.^(A)

²³ The folds of its flesh cling together;
    it is firmly cast and immovable.
²⁴ Its heart is as hard as stone,
    as hard as the lower millstone.
²⁵ When it raises itself up the gods are afraid;
    at the crashing they are beside themselves.
²⁶ Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail,
    nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
²⁷ It counts iron as straw
    and bronze as rotten wood.
²⁸ The arrow cannot make it flee;
    slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
²⁹ Clubs are counted as chaff;
    it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
³⁰ Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;
    it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.