²² Thus says Yahweh:
“Look, a people is coming from the land of the north,
    a great nation is woken up from the farthest part of the earth.
²³ The bow and the short sword they grasp are cruel,
    and they show no mercy.
Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride,
    drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion.”
²⁴ We have heard news of it,
    our hands grow slack,
anxiety has grasped us,
    pain as a woman who gives birth.
²⁵ You must not go out into the field,
    and you must not walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword,^[a]
    terror is all around.
²⁶ O daughter of my people,
    gird yourself with sackcloth,
and roll about in the ashes in mourning,
    a mourning ceremony as for an only child.
Make for yourself wailing of bitterness,
    for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.