Jeremiah 4:20-29

20Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment.

21How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”

23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.

24I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.

25I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away.

26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

27This is what the Lord says: “The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.

28Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.”

29At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight. Some go into the thickets; some climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted; no one lives in them.