Jeremiah 4:29–31

At the sound of horsemen and archers

every town takes to flight.

Some go into the thickets;

some climb up among the rocks.

All the towns are deserted;

no one lives in them.

What are you doing, you devastated one?

Why dress yourself in scarlet

and put on jewels of gold?

Why highlight your eyes with makeup?

You adorn yourself in vain.

Your lovers despise you;

they want to kill you.

I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,

a groan as of one bearing her first child—

the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,

stretching out her hands and saying,

“Alas! I am fainting;

my life is given over to murderers.”

Every city flees

at the sound of the horseman and the archer.

They enter the thickets

and climb among the rocks.

Every city is abandoned;

no inhabitant is left.

And you, devastated one, what are you doing

that you dress yourself in scarlet,

that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,

that you enhance your eyes with makeup?

You beautify yourself for nothing.

Your lovers reject you;

they intend to take your life.

I hear a cry like a woman in labor,

a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.

The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,

stretching out her hands:

“Woe is me, for my life is weary

because of the murderers!”

At the noise of charioteers and archers,

the people flee in terror.

They hide in the bushes

and run for the mountains.

All the towns have been abandoned—

not a person remains!

What are you doing,

you who have been plundered?

Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing

and put on gold jewelry?

Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara?

Your primping will do you no good!

The allies who were your lovers

despise you and seek to kill you.

I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor,

the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child.

It is beautiful Jerusalem

gasping for breath and crying out,

“Help! I’m being murdered!”

From the sound of a horseman and an archer every town flees,

they enter in the thickets and among the rocks they climb.

Every town is forsaken,

and there is no person who lives in them.

And you, O devastated one, what do you do,

that you put on crimson,

that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

that you make your eyes look bigger with the eye make-up?

In vain you beautify yourself.

Your lovers reject you;

they seek your life.

For I heard a voice like an ill woman,

anxiety like a woman who bears her first child,

the voice of the daughter of Zion.

She is gasping for breath,

she is spreading out her hands:

“Woe is me, for I am becoming tired before killers.”

The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen;

They shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks:

Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?

Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold,

Though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair;

Thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,

The voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands,

Saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.