23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?At whom have you shoutedand looked so arrogantly?At the Holy One of Israel!
24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master,‘With my many chariots I climbed upthe high mountains,the slopes of Lebanon.I cut down its tall cedarsand its best evergreens.I invaded its most remote regions,its thickest woods.
25 I dug wellsand drank water.With the soles of my feet I dried upall the rivers of Egypt.’
26 Certainly you must have heard!Long ago I worked it out,in ancient times I planned it,and now I am bringing it to pass.The plan is this:Fortified cities will crashinto heaps of ruins.
27 Their residents are powerless;they are terrified and ashamed.They are as short-lived as plants in the fieldor green vegetation.They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftopswhen it is scorched by the east wind.
28 I know where you liveand everything you doand how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against meand the uproar you create has reached my ears,I will put my hook in your nose,and my bridle between your lips,and I will lead you back the way you came.”