11. The Lord said, “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins.Jackals will make their home there.I will destroy the towns of Judahso that no one will be able to live in them.”
12. I said, “Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it?Why does the land lie in ruins?Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”
13. The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws.
14. Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to the gods called Baal, as their fathers taught them to do.
15. So then, listen to what I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, say. ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment.
16. I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’”
17. The Lord who rules over all told me to say to this people,“Take note of what I say.Call for the women who mourn for the dead!Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”
18. I said, “Indeed, let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyesand our eyelids overflow with water.
19. For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.They will wail, ‘We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced!For our houses have been torn downand we must leave our land.’”
20. I said, “So now, you wailing women, hear what the Lord says.Open your ears to the words from his mouth.Teach your daughters this mournful song,and each of you teach your neighbor this lament.
21. ‘Death has climbed in through our windows.It has entered into our fortified houses.It has taken away our children who play in the streets.It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’
22. Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says,“The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywherelike manure scattered on a field.They will lie scattered on the ground like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’”