Jeremiah 9:9-16

91Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord. “Shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?

10“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the 2mountains, And for the pastures of the 3wilderness a song of mourning, Because they are 4laid waste so that no one passes through, And the sound of the livestock is not heard; Both the 5birds of the sky and the animals have fled; they are gone.11I will make Jerusalem a 6heap of ruins, A haunt of 7jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a 8desolation without inhabitant.”

12Who is the 9wise person who may understand this? And who is he to whom 10the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? 11Why is the land destroyed, laid waste like the desert, so that no one passes through? 13The Lord said, “Because they have 12abandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have 13followed the stubbornness of their heart and the 14Baals, 15as their 16fathers taught them,” 15therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, 17I will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them 18poisoned water to drink. 16I will also 19scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the 20sword after them until I have put an end to them.”