²² Thus says the Lord:
See, a people is coming from the land of the north,
   a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
²³ They grasp the bow and the javelin,
   they are cruel and have no mercy,
   their sound is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
   equipped like a warrior for battle,
   against you, O daughter Zion!

²⁴ ‘We have heard news of them,
   our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
   pain as of a woman in labour.
²⁵ Do not go out into the field,
   or walk on the road;
for the enemy has a sword,
   terror is on every side.’

²⁶ O my poor people, put on sackcloth,
   and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only child,
   most bitter lamentation:
for suddenly the destroyer
   will come upon us.

²⁷ I have made you a tester and a refiner among my people
   so that you may know and test their ways.
²⁸ They are all stubbornly rebellious,
   going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron,
   all of them act corruptly.
²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely,
   the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,
   for the wicked are not removed.
³⁰ They are called ‘rejected silver’,
   for the Lord has rejected them.