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²⁰Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me. ²¹Therefore thus says the Lord: See, I am laying before this people stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; parents and children together, neighbor and friend shall perish. ²²Thus says the Lord: See, a people is coming from the land of the north, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. ²³They grasp the bow and the javelin, they are cruel and have no mercy, their sound is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, equipped like a warrior for battle, against you, O daughter Zion! ²⁴“We have heard news of them, our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor. ²⁵Do not go out into the field, or walk on the road; for the enemy has a sword, terror is on every side.” ²⁶O my poor people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only child, most bitter lamentation: for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. ²⁷I have made you a tester and a refiner among my people so that you may know and test their ways. ²⁸They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron, all of them act corruptly. ²⁹The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.