²⁴ I will weaken them with famine,
    burning fever, and deadly disease.
I will send the fangs of wild beasts
    and poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.

⁶ “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
    and in the days of Jael,
people avoided the main roads,
    and travelers stayed on winding pathways.

⁴ The roads to Jerusalem^[a] are in mourning,
    for crowds no longer come to celebrate the festivals.
The city gates are silent,
    her priests groan,
her young women are crying—
    how bitter is her fate!

⁸ Your roads are deserted;
    no one travels them anymore.
The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty
    and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses.^[a]
    They have no respect for anyone.

¹² Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;
    Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins!
A thicket will grow on the heights
    where the Temple now stands.