¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,^(A)
    nor will he pity^(B) the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly^(C) and wicked,^(D)
    every mouth speaks folly.^(E)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.^(F)

⁵ Together they^[a] will be like warriors in battle
    trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.^(A)
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.^(B)

⁶ “‘Alas, sword^(A) of the Lord,
    how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
    cease and be still.’^(B)
7 But how can it rest
    when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”^(C)

²⁶ “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained^(A) it.
In days of old I planned^(B) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.^(C)
27 Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass^(D) sprouting on the roof,^(E)
    scorched^[a] before it grows up.