5 Watch the other countries and observe them, and be astonished and amazed,

because I’m about to do something in your time

that no one will believe would happen, even if they were told about it.[ref]

6 Listen, I’m about to stir up the Babylonians[ref]—

that fierce and impetuous empire

that marches around the world to seize cities for themselves.

7 They’re dreaded and feared.

They go by their own rules to boost their own pride.

8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more menacing than the wolves in the evening.

So their horsemen arrive from a great distance, then come charging—

they fly like an eagle that’s swift to devour.

9 They all come for violence—

hordes of faces advancing like the wind in the wilderness.

They gather captives like sand.

10 They scoff at kings, and rulers are just a joke to them.

They laugh at fortresses as they pile soil up around them and capture them.

11 Then they sweep past like the wind and move on.

They become guilty of thinking that their own strength is their god.