For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness.

They have destroyed our vines; they have turned our fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark and thrown them aside; the twigs are stripped bare.

Listen to the cattle groan! The herds of livestock wander around in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness -- for nothing escapes them!

They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses.

They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle.

People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright.

They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path.

They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks.

They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief.

Then I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment against them there concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, whom they scattered among the nations. They partitioned my land,

and they cast lots for my people. They traded a boy for a prostitute; they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink.

I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. They will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away. Indeed, the Lord has spoken!

Egypt will be desolate and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.