6. Set up a flag to Zion;take cover, don’t just stand there!I’m bringing disaster from the north,massive devastation.
7. A lion bursts out of the thicket;a destroyer of nations advances.He’s gone forth from his placeto ravage your land,to wipe out your towns,until no one is left.
8. So put on funeral clothing.Weep and wail,for the Lord’s fierce angerhasn’t turned away from us.
9. On that day, declares the Lord, the courage of the king and his princes will fail,the priests will be stunned,and the prophets will be shocked.
10. Then I said, "Lord God, no!You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalemby promising them peaceeven though the sword is at their throats."
11. At that time, this people and Jerusalem will be told:A blistering wind from the bare heights;it rages in the desert toward my people,not merely to winnow or cleanse.
12. This wind is too devastating for that.Now I, even I, will pronounce my sentence against them.