Jeremiah 9:10-21

10“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the 1mountains, And for the pastures of the 2wilderness a song of mourning, Because they are 3laid waste so that no one passes through, And the sound of the livestock is not heard; Both the 4birds of the sky and the animals have fled; they are gone.11I will make Jerusalem a 5heap of ruins, A haunt of 6jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a 7desolation without inhabitant.”

12Who is the 8wise person who may understand this? And who is he to whom 9the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? 10Why is the land destroyed, laid waste like the desert, so that no one passes through? 13The Lord said, “Because they have 11abandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have 12followed the stubbornness of their heart and the 13Baals, 14as their 15fathers taught them,” 15therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, 16I will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them 17poisoned water to drink. 16I will also 18scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the 19sword after them until I have put an end to them.”

17This is what the Lord of armies says: “Consider and call for the 20mourning women, that they may come; And send for the 2122skillful women, that they may come!18Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us, So that our 23eyes may shed tears, And our eyelids flow with water.19For a voice of 24wailing is heard from Zion: ‘25How devastated we are! We are put to great shame, For we have 26abandoned the land Because they have torn down our homes.’”20Now hear the word of the Lord, you 27women, And let your ears receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.21For 28death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To eliminate the 29children from the streets, The young men from the public squares.