- Oh, that my head were a spring of water , and my eyes a fountain of tears ! I would weep day and night - over the slain daughter of my people.
If only ... I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness , I would abandon - my people and depart from them , for they are all adulterers , a crowd of faithless people.
“ They bend their tongues like bows ; lies prevail over tRuth - in the land. For they proceed - from evil to evil , and they do not take Me into account , ” declares the LORD.
“ Let everyone guard against his neighbor ; do not trust any brother , for every brother deals craftily , and every friend spreads slander.
Each one betrays his friend ; no one tells the tRuth -. They have taught their tongues to lie ... ; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
You dwell in the midst of deception ; in their deceit they refuse to know Me , ” declares the LORD.
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says : “ Behold , I will refine them and test them , for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people ?
Their tongues are deadly arrows ; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor , but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
Should I not punish for these things ? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation - as this ? ”
I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains , a dirge over the wilderness pasture , for they have been scorched so no one passes through , and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled ; they have gone away.
“ And I will make - Jerusalem a heap of rubble , a haunt for jackals - ; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation , without inhabitant. ”
Who is the man wise enough to understand - this ? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken - , that he may explain it ? Why ... is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert , so no one can pass through it ?
And the LORD answered , “ It is because they have forsaken - My law , which I set before them ; they have not walked (or) obeyed My voice.
Instead, they have followed ... the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals , as their fathers taught them.”
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts , the God of Israel , says : “ Behold , I will feed - this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
I will scatter them among the nations that neither they (nor) their fathers have known , and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off -.”
This is what the LORD of Hosts says : “ Take note , and summon the wailing women ; ... send ... for the (most) skillful (among them).
Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us , that our eyes may overflow with tears , and our eyelids may gush with water.
For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion : ‘ How devastated we are ! How great is our shame ! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down. ’”
Now , O women , hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail , and one another to lament.
For death has climbed in through our windows ; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets , the young men from the town squares.
Declare that this is what the LORD says : “ The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field , like newly cut grain behind the reaper , with no one to gather it. ”
This is what the LORD says : “ Let not the wise (man) boast in his wisdom , nor the strong man - in his strength , nor the wealthy man - in his riches.
But ... let him who boasts boast in this , that he understands and knows Me , that I am the LORD , who exercises loving devotion , justice and righteousness on the earth — for I delight in these things , ” declares the LORD.
“ Behold , the days are coming , ” declares the LORD , “ when I will punish ... all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised :
- Egypt , ... Judah , ... Edom , ... vvv Ammon , ... Moab , ... and all the inhabitants of the desert ... who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations (are) uncircumcised , and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”