^23:28But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem,⁶⁹ do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves⁷⁰ and for your children. ^23:29For this is certain:⁷¹ The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’⁷²^23:30Then they will begin to say to the mountains,⁷³ ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’⁷⁴

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Footnotes

69 The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation. For the location of Jerusalem see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
70 Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves. Judgment now comes on the nation (see Luke 19:41–44) for this judgment of Jesus. Ironically, they mourn the wrong person—they should be mourning for themselves.
71 Grk “For behold.”
72 Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!” Normally barrenness is a sign of judgment, because birth would be seen as a sign of blessing. The reversal of imagery indicates that something was badly wrong.
73 The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).
74 An allusion to Hos 10:8 (cf. Rev 6:16).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then

“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

CSBChristian Standard Bible

But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. Look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the women without children, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

NLTNew Living Translation

But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children! For behold, days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that did not give birth, and the breasts that did not nurse!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

KJV 1900King James Version

But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

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