Anguish over Judah’s Desolation
19 aMy soul, my soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart!
My bheart is pounding in me;
I cannot be silent
Because you have heard, O my soul,
The csound of the trumpet,
The shout of war.
20 aDestruction upon destruction is called out,
For the bwhole land is devastated;
Suddenly my ctents are devastated,
My curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the standard
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “aFor My people are ignorant fools,
They know Me not;
They are simpleminded children
And have no understanding.
They are wise to bdo evil,
But to do good they do not know.”
23 I saw on the earth, and behold, it was aformless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were aquaking,
And all the hills moved to and fro.
25 I saw, and behold, there was no man,
And all the abirds of the sky had fled.
26 I saw, and behold, the afruitful orchard was a wilderness,
And all its cities were torn down
Before Yahweh, before His burning anger.
27 For thus says Yahweh,
“The awhole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will bnot execute a complete destruction.
28 For this the aearth shall mourn
And the bheavens above be dark
Because I have cspoken; I have purposed,
And I will not relent, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman aevery city flees;
They bgo into the thickets and climb up among the rocks;
cEvery city is forsaken,
And no man inhabits them.
30 And you, O devastated one, awhat will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,
Although you benlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your clovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a sound as of a woman in labor pains,
The distress as of one giving birth to her first child,
The sound of the daughter of Zion agasping for breath,
bStretching out her hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers.”