7. “A lion has come up from his bush, and the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has set out from his place to make your land a ruin. Your cities are laid waste, without inhabitant.
8. “For this, gird yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail. For the burning displeasure of יהוה has not turned back from us.
9. “And in that day it shall be,” declares יהוה, “that the heart of the sovereign shall perish, and the heart of the heads. And the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets wonder.”
10. Then I said, “Ah, Master יהוה! Truly, You have greatly deceived this people and Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Peace is for you,’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
11. At that time it shall be said to this people and to Yerushalayim, “A scorching wind of the bare heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan or to cleanse.
12. “A wind too strong for this shall come for Me. Now it is I who speak judgments against them.
13. “See, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses shall be swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we shall be ravaged!”
14. O Yerushalayim, wash your heart from evil, and be saved. Till when would your wicked thoughts remain within you?
15. For a voice is declaring from Dan, and is proclaiming trouble from Mount Ephrayim:
16. “Announce to the nations, look, proclaim against Yerushalayim, that besiegers are coming from a distant land and raise their voice against the cities of Yehuḏah.
17. “Like keepers of a field they are against her all around, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares יהוה.
18. “Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your evil, because it is bitter, because it has reached into your heart.”
19. O my inward parts, my inward parts! I am in pain! O the walls of my heart! My heart pounds in me, I am not silent. For you have heard, O my being, the sound of the ram’s horn, a shout of battle!
20. Destruction upon destruction is cried, for all the land is ravaged. Suddenly my tents are ravaged – my curtains in a moment.
21. How long shall I see a banner, and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?
22. “For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
23. I looked at the earth, and saw it was formless and empty. And the heavens, they had no light.