18. Tell the king and the queen mother:Come down from your lofty place,because your glorious crownswill soon be removed from your heads.
19. The towns of the arid southern plain will be surrounded;no one will get in or out;all Judah will be taken into exile;everyone will be led away.
20. Lift up your eyesand see who is approaching from the north.Where is the flock entrusted to you,your beautiful flock?
21. What will you say when he appoints someone as head over you:your defenders, your trusted allies?Won’t pain grip youlike that of a woman in labor?
22. And when you ask yourself,Why have all these things happened to me?it is because of your many sinsthat you have been stripped and violated.
23. Can a Cushite change his skinor a leopard its spots?Neither can you do goodwhen doing evil comes so naturally.
24. So I will scatter you like strawthat is blown away by the desert winds.