JUDAH ON TRIAL

2 Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth,h

for the Lord has spoken:

“I have raised children* and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.i

3 The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,

but Israel does not know;

my people do not understand.”j

4 Oh sinful nation,

people weighed down with iniquity,k

brood of evildoers,l

depraved children!

They have abandonedm the Lord;

they have despisedn the Holy One of Israel;o

they have turned their backs on him.

5 Why do you want more beatings?

Why do you keep on rebelling?

The whole head is hurt,

and the whole heart is sick.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,p

no spot is uninjuredq—

wounds, welts, and festering sores

not cleansed, bandaged,

or soothed with oil.

7 Your land is desolate,

your cities burned down;r

foreigners devour your fields

right in front of you—

a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.

8 Daughter Zions is abandoned

like a shelter in a vineyard,

like a shack in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.