“He trains my hands for battle,So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

“He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;And his grain will not bend down to the ground.

For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,They make ready their arrow upon the stringTo shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

He trains my hands for battle,So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

“They bend their tongue like their bow;Lies and not truth prevail in the land;For they proceed from evil to evil,And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord.

Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots,That the mighty men may march forward:Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield,And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.

“Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,All you who bend the bow;Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,For she has sinned against the Lord.

“Summon many against Babylon,All those who bend the bow:Encamp against her on every side,Let there be no escape.Repay her according to her work;According to all that she has done, so do to her;For she has become arrogant against the Lord,Against the Holy One of Israel.

“Let not him who bends his bow bend it,Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor;So do not spare her young men;Devote all her army to destruction.

For I will bend Judah as My bow,I will fill the bow with Ephraim.And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece;And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

“Let their eyes be darkened to see not,And bend their backs forever.”