Jeremiah 4:19–31

Jeremiah’s Lament

¹⁹My anguish, my anguish! ^sI writhe in agony!

Oh, the pain in ^tmy heart! ^u

My heart pounds;

I cannot be silent.

For you, my soul,

have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—

the shout of battle.

²⁰Disaster after disaster ^vis reported

because the whole land is destroyed.

Suddenly my tents are destroyed,

my tent curtains, in a moment.

²¹How long must I see the signal flag

and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?

²²“For My people are fools;

they do not know Me.

They are foolish children,

without understanding. ^w

They are skilled in doing what is evil,

but they do not know how to do what is good.” ^x

²³I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and empty. ^y

I looked to the heavens,

and their light was gone. ^z

²⁴I looked at the mountains,

and they were quaking; ^a

all the hills shook.

²⁵I looked, and no man was left; ^b

all the birds of the sky had fled. ^c

²⁶I looked, and the fertile field ^dwas a wilderness. ^e

All its cities were torn down

because of the Lord

and His burning anger. ^f

²⁷For this is what the Lord says:

The whole land will be a desolation, ^g

but I will not finish it off. ^h

²⁸Because of this, the earth will mourn; ⁱ

the skies above will grow dark. ^j

I have spoken; I have planned,

and I will not relent or turn back from it. ^k

²⁹Every city flees ^l

at the sound of the horseman and the archer.

They enter the thickets

and climb among the rocks. ^m

Every city is abandoned;

no inhabitant is left.

³⁰And you, devastated one, what are you doing ⁿ

that you dress yourself in scarlet,

that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,

that you enlarge your eyes with paint? ^o

You beautify yourself for nothing.

Your lovers reject you; ^p

they want to take your life. ^q

³¹I hear a cry like a woman in labor, ^r

a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.

The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,

stretching out her hands: ^s

Woe is me, for my life is weary

because of the murderers!