47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth as the eagle swoops down⁵⁰, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, or lambs of your flocks until they have destroyed you.

6 Look, I am about to empower the Babylonians, that ruthless and greedy nation. They sweep across the surface of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them. 7 They are frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right. 8 Their horses are faster than leopards and more alert than wolves in the desert. Their horses gallop, their horses come a great distance; like eagles²⁵ they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. 9 All of them intend to do violence; every face is determined. They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. 10 They mock kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every fortified city; they build siege ramps and capture them.