15. "Go away! You are 'unclean'!" people cry out to them. "Go away! Get out of here! Don't touch us!" So they run away and wander around. Then people among the nations say, "They can't stay here anymore."
16. The Lord himself has scattered them. He doesn't watch over them anymore. No one shows the priests any respect. No one honors the elders.
17. And that's not all. Our eyes grew tired. We looked for help that never came. We watched from our towers. We kept looking for a nation that couldn't save us.
18. People hunted us down no matter where we went. We couldn't even walk in our streets. Our end was near. We only had a few days to live. Our end had come.
19. Those who were hunting us down were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains. They hid and waited for us in the desert.
20. Zedekiah, the Lord's anointed king, was our last hope. But he was caught in their traps. We thought he would keep us safe. We expected to continue living among the nations.
21. People of Edom, be joyful. You who live in the land of Uz, be glad. But the cup of the Lord's anger will also be passed to you. Then you will become drunk. Your clothes will be stripped off.