21. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
22. Thus hath the Lord said, Behold, a people come from the land of the north wind, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
23. They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and they shall have no mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea; and they shall ride upon horses set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24. We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail.
25. Do not go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26. O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
27. I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people; thou shalt know and examine their way.
28. They are all rebellious princes; they walk with deception: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29. The bellows are burned; the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melts in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away.
30. Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord has rejected them.