20 To what purpose does this incense come to me from Sheba and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not according to my will, nor are your sacrifices sweet unto me.
21 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus hath the Lord said, Behold, a people come from the land of the north wind, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and they shall have no mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea; and they shall ride upon horses set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail.
25 Do not go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.