Jeremiah 4:19–31

¹⁹Oh, my anguish, my anguish!^b

I writhe in pain.^c

Oh, the agony of my heart!

My heart pounds^d within me,

I cannot keep silent.^e

For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;^f

I have heard the battle cry.^g

²⁰Disaster follows disaster;^h

the whole land lies in ruins.ⁱ

In an instant my tents^j are destroyed,

my shelter in a moment.

²¹How long must I see the battle standard^k

and hear the sound of the trumpet?^l

²²“My people are fools;^m

they do not know me.ⁿ

They are senseless children;

they have no understanding.^o

They are skilled in doing evil;^p

they know not how to do good.”^q

²³I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and empty;^r

and at the heavens,

and their light^s was gone.

²⁴I looked at the mountains,

and they were quaking;^t

all the hills were swaying.

²⁵I looked, and there were no people;

every bird in the sky had flown away.^u

²⁶I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;^v

all its towns lay in ruins^w

before the Lord, before his fierce anger.^x

²⁷This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,^y

though I will not destroy^z it completely.

²⁸Therefore the earth will mourn^a

and the heavens above grow dark,^b

because I have spoken and will not relent,^c

I have decided and will not turn back.^d”

²⁹At the sound of horsemen and archers^e

every town takes to flight.^f

Some go into the thickets;

some climb up among the rocks.^g

All the towns are deserted;^h

no one lives in them.

³⁰What are you doing,ⁱ you devastated one?

Why dress yourself in scarlet

and put on jewels^j of gold?

Why highlight your eyes with makeup?^k

You adorn yourself in vain.

Your lovers^l despise you;

they want to kill you.^m

³¹I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,ⁿ

a groan as of one bearing her first child—

the cry of Daughter Zion^o gasping for breath,^p

stretching out her hands^q and saying,

“Alas! I am fainting;

my life is given over to murderers.”^r