21 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people;

fathers and sons together will stumble over them;s

friends and neighbors will also perish.

A CRUEL NATION FROM THE NORTH

22 This is what the Lord says:

Look,t an army is coming from a northern land;u

a great nation will be stirred up

from the remote regions of the earth.v

23 They grasp bow and javelin.

They are cruel and show no mercy.w

Their voice roars like the sea,x

and they ride on horses,

lined up like men in battle formation

against you, Daughter Zion.

24 We have heard about it,

and our hands have become weak.

Distress has seized us—

pain, like a woman in labor.y

25 Don’t go out to the fields;

don’t walk on the road.

For the enemy has a sword;

terror is on every side.z

26 My dearB people, dress yourselves in sackcloth

and roll in the dust.aa

Mourn as you would for an only son,ab

a bitter lament,

for suddenly the destroyerac will come on us.ad