24 I’ve dug wells in faraway places
    and drunk their exotic waters;
I’ve waded and splashed barefoot
    in the rivers of Egypt.”

25 Did it never occur to you
    that I’m behind all this?
Long, long ago I drew up the plans,
    and now I’ve gone into action,
Using you as a doomsday weapon,
    reducing proud cities to piles of rubble,
26 Leaving their people dispirited,
    slumped shoulders, limp souls.
Useless as weeds, fragile as grass,
    insubstantial as wind-blown chaff.

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24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25 “‘Have you not heard?(A)
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(B) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(C)
26 Their people, drained of power,(D)
    are dismayed(E) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,(F)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched(G) before it grows up.

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