21. And the lord has spoken this word against him:“The virgin daughter of Ziondespises you and laughs at you.The daughter of Jerusalemshakes her head in derision as you flee.
22. “Whom have you been defying and ridiculing?Against whom did you raise your voice?At whom did you look with such haughty eyes?It was the Holy One of Israel!
23. By your messengers you have defied the Lord.You have said, ‘With my many chariotsI have conquered the highest mountains—yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon.I have cut down its tallest cedarsand its finest cypress trees.I have reached its farthest cornersand explored its deepest forests.
24. I have dug wells in many foreign landsand refreshed myself with their water.With the sole of my footI stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!’
25. “But have you not heard?I decided this long ago.Long ago I planned it,and now I am making it happen.I planned for you to crush fortified citiesinto heaps of rubble.