17. “Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you.These snakes cannot be charmed,and they will bite you,” says the Lord.
18. God, you are my comfort when I am very sadand when I am afraid.
19. Listen to the sound of my people.They cry from a faraway land:“Isn’t the Lord still in Jerusalem?Isn’t Jerusalem’s king still there?”But God says, “Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols,useless foreign idols?”
20. And the people say, “Harvest time is over;summer has ended,and we have not been saved.”
21. Because my people are crushed, I am crushed.I cry loudly and am afraid for them.
22. Isn’t there balm in the land of Gilead?Isn’t there a doctor there?So why aren’t the hurts of my people healed?