Jeremiah 48:40

For the Lord says, “Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab. ¹ 

This is what the LORD says: "Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.

For thus says the LORD: "Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle And spread out his wings against Moab.

"An eagle swoops down on the land of Moab," says the LORD.

GOD's verdict on Moab. Indeed! "Look! An eagle is about to swoop down and spread its wings over Moab.

For the Lord has said, See, he will come like an eagle in flight, stretching out his wings against Moab.

For thus says the LORD: Look, he shall swoop down like an eagle, and spread his wings against Moab;

For thus says the LORD: "Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, And spread his wings over Moab.

For the Lord says, “Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab. ¹ 

¹ tn Heb “Behold! Like an eagle he will swoop and will spread his wings against Moab.” The sentence has been reordered in English to give a better logical flow and the unidentified “he” has been identified as “a nation.” The nation is, of course, Babylon, but it is nowhere identified so the referent has been left ambiguous.

sn Conquering nations are often identified with a swiftly flying eagle swooping down on its victims (cf. Deut 28:49). In this case the eagle is to be identified with the nation (or king) of Babylon (cf. Ezek 17:3, 12 where reference is to the removal of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and his replacement with Zedekiah).