8. Their horses are swifter than cheetahsand fiercer than wolves at dusk.Their charioteers charge from far away.Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.
9. “On they come, all bent on violence.Their hordes advance like a desert wind,sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
10. They scoff at kings and princesand scorn all their fortresses.They simply pile ramps of earthagainst their walls and capture them!
11. They sweep past like the windand are gone.But they are deeply guilty,for their own strength is their god.”
12. O lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—surely you do not plan to wipe us out?O lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,to punish us for our many sins.
13. But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.Will you wink at their treachery?Should you be silent while the wickedswallow up people more righteous than they?
14. Are we only fish to be caught and killed?Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?
15. Must we be strung up on their hooksand caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate?