Naught availeth thy sword, for they break it in sunder,
Then bind thine arms straitly with fetters of brass,
Haling thee forth and the stairway adown;
Like a beast for the sacrifice scourging thee on;
To him will they bring thee whose hand thou rejectedst;
To him will they bring thee whose yoke thou hast broken,
To him who thy fiery doom will have spoken.
[Zedekiah has retreated several steps, and makes gestures as if to avert the threatened fate]
To thy knees as they force thee with curses and blows,
In the air-blast the furnace roars fiercely and glows.