Jeremiah 4:19-31

191My 2soul, my 3soul! I am in anguish! 4Oh, my heart! My 5heart is pounding in me; I cannot keep silent, Because, 6my soul, you have heard The 7sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.208Disaster upon disaster is proclaimed, For the 9whole land is devastated; Suddenly my 10tents are devastated, And my curtains in an instant.21How long must I see the flag And hear the sound of the trumpet?22“11For My people are foolish, They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are skillful at 12doing evil, But they do not know how to do good.”

23I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a 1314formless and desolate emptiness; And to the heavens, and they had no light.24I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were 15quaking, And all the hills jolted back and forth.25I looked, and behold, there was no human, And all the 16birds of the sky had fled.26I looked, and behold, 17the 18fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.

27For this is what the Lord says: “The 19whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will 20not execute a complete destruction.28For this the 21earth will mourn, And the 22heavens above will become dark, Because I have 23spoken, I have purposed, And I have not 24changed My mind, nor will I turn from it.”29At the sound of the horseman and archer 25every city flees; They 26go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; 27Every city is abandoned, And no one lives in them.30And you, desolate one, 28what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you adorn yourself with jewelry of gold, Although you 29enlarge your eyes with makeup, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your 3031lovers despise you; They seek your life.31For I heard a voice cry as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child. The voice of the daughter of Zion 32gasping for breath, 33Stretching out her 34hands, saying, “Ah, woe to me, for 35I faint before murderers.”