“The virgin daughter Zion 2
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 3
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 4
At the Holy One of Israel! 5
37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 6
‘With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, 7
its thickest woods.
37:25 I dug wells
and drank water. 8
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
37:26 9 Certainly you must have heard! 10
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned 11 it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 12
37:27 Their residents are powerless; 13
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field
or green vegetation. 14
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops 15
when it is scorched by the east wind. 16
37:28 I know where you live
and everything you do
and how you rage against me. 17
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears, 18
I will put my hook in your nose, 19
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”