20
What use to me is incense from Sheba or sweet cane from a faraway land? Your entirely burned offerings won't buy your pardon; your sacrifices won't appease me.
21
Therefore, the LORD proclaims: I'm putting obstacles before this people, and both parents and children will stumble over them; neighbor and friend alike will perish.
22
The LORD proclaims: An army is on the move from the northern regions; a great nation is roused from the ends of the earth.
23
Equipped with bow and spear, they are cruel; they show no mercy. Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea, arrayed in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.
24
We have heard reports of them and are panic-stricken; distress overwhelms us, pain like that of a woman in labor.