“And I shall appoint over them four kinds,” declares יהוה, “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
‘And fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, “It is a wasteland, without man or beast. It has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”
Therefore a lion from the forest shall smite them, a wolf of the deserts ravage them. A leopard is watching over their cities, whoever comes out of them is torn in pieces. For their transgressions have been many, their backslidings have been numerous.
“From above He has sent fire into my bones, And it overpowered them; He has spread a net for my feet and turned me back; He has laid me waste and faint all the day.
“This is what he said, ‘The fourth beast is the fourth reign on earth, which is different from all other reigns, and it devours all the earth, tramples it down and crushes it.
“And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, ‘Woe! Woe, the great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she was laid waste.’