5 Look around [you, Habakkuk, replied the Lord] among the nations and see! And be astonished! Astounded! For I am putting into effect a work in your days [such] that you would not believe it if it were told you. 6 For behold, I am rousing up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation who march through the breadth of the earth to take possession of dwelling places that do not belong to them. 7 [The Chaldeans] are terrible and dreadful; their justice and dignity proceed [only] from themselves. 8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards and are fiercer than the evening wolves, and their horsemen spread themselves and press on proudly; yes, their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle that hastens to devour. 9 They all come for violence; their faces turn eagerly forward, and they gather prisoners together like sand. 10 They scoff at kings, and rulers are a derision to them; they ridicule every stronghold, for they heap up dust [for earth mounds] and take it. 11 Then they sweep by like a wind and pass on, and they load themselves with guilt, [as do all men] whose own power is their god.