4. Therefore the law is paralysed,and justice never prevails.The wicked hem in the righteous,so that justice is perverted.
5. ‘Look at the nations and watch –and be utterly amazed.For I am going to do something in your daysthat you would not believe,even if you were told.
6. I am raising up the Babylonians,that ruthless and impetuous people,who sweep across the whole earthto seize dwellings not their own.
7. They are a feared and dreaded people;they are a law to themselvesand promote their own honour.
8. Their horses are swifter than leopards,fiercer than wolves at dusk.Their cavalry gallops headlong;their horsemen come from afar.They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9. they all come intent on violence.Their hordes advance like a desert windand gather prisoners like sand.
10. They mock kingsand scoff at rulers.They laugh at all fortified cities;by building earthen ramps they capture them.