19
d My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20
e Crash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
f Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21
How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22
"For g my people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
h They are 'wise' - in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not."
23
I looked on the earth, and behold, it was i without form and void;
j and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24
I looked on k the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25
l I looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26
I looked, and behold, the m fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before n his fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord, "The whole land shall be a desolation; o yet I will not make a full end.
28
p "For this the earth shall mourn,
q and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
r I have not relented, nor will I turn back."
29
At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and s no man dwells in them.
30
And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
t that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
u that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
v Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31
For I heard w a cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
x stretching out her hands,
"Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers."