²⁴ We have heard reports about them,
    and our hands hang limp.^(A)
Anguish^(B) has gripped us,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.^(C)
25 Do not go out to the fields
    or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword,
    and there is terror on every side.^(D)
26 Put on sackcloth,^(E) my people,
    and roll in ashes;^(F)
mourn with bitter wailing^(G)
    as for an only son,^(H)
for suddenly the destroyer^(I)
    will come upon us.