19. 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. Crash follows hard on crash;the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste,my curtains in a moment.
21. How long must I see the standardand hear the sound of the trumpet?
22. “For my people are foolish;they know me not;they are stupid children;they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!But how to do good they know not.”
23. I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24. I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,and all the hills moved to and fro.
25. I looked, and behold, there was no man,and all the birds of the air had fled.
26. I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,and all its cities were laid in ruinsbefore the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27. For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28. “For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark;for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29. At the noise of horseman and archerevery city takes to flight;they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;all the cities are forsaken,and no man dwells in them.