17. They surround her like men guarding a field,because she has rebelled against me,” ’declares the Lord.
18. ‘Your own conduct and actionshave brought this on you.This is your punishment.How bitter it is!How it pierces to the heart!’
19. Oh, my anguish, my anguish!I writhe in pain.Oh, the agony of my heart!My heart pounds within me,I cannot keep silent.For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;I have heard the battle cry.
20. Disaster follows disaster;the whole land lies in ruins.In an instant my tents are destroyed,my shelter in a moment.
21. How long must I see the battle standardand 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.’
23. I looked at the earth,and it was formless and empty;and at the heavens,and their light was gone.
24. I looked at the mountains,and they were quaking;all the hills were swaying.
25. I looked, and there were no people;every bird in the sky had flown away.
26. I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;all its towns lay in ruinsbefore the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27. This is what the Lord says:‘The whole land will be ruined,though I will not destroy it completely.
28. Therefore the earth will mournand the heavens above grow dark,because I have spoken and will not relent,I have decided and will not turn back.’
29. At the sound of horsemen and archersevery 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.