aOh that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the bdaughter of my people!
2 aOh that I had in the desert
A travelers’ lodging place,
That I might leave my people
And go from them!
For all of them are badulterers,
A solemn assembly of ctreacherous men.
3 “They abend their tongue like their bow;
Lies and unfaithfulness prevail in the land,
For they bgo onward from evil to evil,
And they cdo not know Me,” declares Yahweh.
4 “Let everyone abeware of his neighbor,
And bdo not trust any brother,
Because every cbrother surely supplants,
And every neighbor dgoes about as a slanderer.
5 Everyone adeceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth;
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They bweary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Your ahabitation is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they brefuse to know Me,” declares Yahweh.
7 Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Behold, I will refine them and atest them;
For bwhat else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
8 Their atongue is a slaughtering arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one bspeaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he csets an ambush for him.
9 aShall I not punish them for these things?” declares Yahweh.
“On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?
10 “For the amountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,
And for the pastures of the bwilderness a funeral lamentation,
Because they are cturned into ruin so that no one passes through,
And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;
Both the dbirds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a aheap of ruins,
A haunt of bjackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a cdesolation, without inhabitant.”
12 Who is the awise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom bthe mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? cWhy has the land perished, turned into ruin like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 Yahweh said, “Because they have aforsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have awalked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the bBaals, as their cfathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, aI will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them bpoisoned water to drink. 16 I will ascatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the bsword after them until I have consumed them.”
17 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Carefully consider and call for the amourning women, that they may come;
And send for the bskillful women, that they may come!
18 Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,
That our aeyes may shed tears
And our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a voice of awailing is heard from Zion,
‘bHow we are destroyed!
We are put to great shame,
For we have cleft the land
Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Indeed, hear the word of Yahweh, O you awomen,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a funeral lamentation.
21 For adeath has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To cut off the binfants from the streets,
The choice men from the open squares.
22 Speak, “Thus declares Yahweh,
‘The corpses of men will fall alike dung on the open field
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”
23 Thus says Yahweh, “aLet not a wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the bmighty man boast in his might; let not a crich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts aboast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Yahweh who bshows lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I cdelight in these things,” declares Yahweh.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet auncircumcised— 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and aall those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are buncircumcised of heart.”