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Grief over Zion

^1 (F1)(C1)Oh, that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For those slain of the ^(C2)daughter of my people!

^2 (F1)(C1)Oh that I had in the desert
A travelers' lodging place;
So that I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For all of them are ^(C2)adulterers,
An assembly of ^(C3)treacherous people.

³ "They ^(C1)bend their tongues like their bows;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they ^(C2)proceed from evil to evil,
And they ^(C3)do not know Me," declares the LORD.

⁴ "Let everyone ^(C1)be on guard against his neighbor,
And ^(C2)do not trust any brother;
Because every ^(C3)brother utterly ^(F1)betrays,
And every neighbor ^(C4)goes about as a slanderer.

⁵ "Everyone ^(C1)deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They ^(C2)weary themselves committing wrongdoing.

⁶ "Your ^(C1)dwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they ^(C2)refuse to know Me," declares the LORD.

⁷ Therefore this is what the LORD of armies says:

"Behold, I will refine them and ^(C1)put them to the test;
For ^(C2)what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

⁸ "Their ^(C1)tongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one ^(C2)speaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he ^(C3)sets an ambush for him.

⁹ "^(C1)Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD.
"Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?

¹⁰ "I will take up a weeping and wailing for the ^(C1)mountains,
And for the pastures of the ^(C2)wilderness a song of mourning,
Because they are ^(C3)laid waste so that no one passes through,
And the sound of the livestock is not heard;
Both the ^(C4)birds of the sky and the animals have fled; they are gone.

¹¹ "I will make Jerusalem a ^(C1)heap of ruins,
A haunt of ^(C2)jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a ^(C3)desolation without inhabitant."

¹² Who is the ^(C1)wise person who may understand this? And who is he to whom ^(C2)the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? ^(C3)Why is the land destroyed, laid waste like the desert, so that no one passes through?¹³ The LORD said, "Because they have ^(C1)abandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,¹⁴ but have ^(C1)followed the stubbornness of their heart and the ^(C2)Baals, ^(F1)as their ^(C3)fathers taught them,"¹⁵ therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "Behold, ^(C1)I will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them ^(C2)poisoned water to drink.¹⁶ "I will also ^(C1)scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the ^(C2)sword after them until I have put an end to them."

¹⁷ This is what the LORD of armies says:

"Consider and call for the ^(C1)mourning women, that they may come;
And send for the ^(F1)(C2)skillful women, that they may come!

¹⁸ "Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us,
So that our ^(C1)eyes may shed tears,
And our eyelids flow with water.

¹⁹ "For a voice of ^(C1)wailing is heard from Zion:
'^(C2)How devastated we are!
We are put to great shame,
For we have ^(C3)abandoned the land
Because they have torn down our homes.'"

²⁰ Now hear the word of the LORD, you ^(C1)women,
And let your ears receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.

²¹ For ^(C1)death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To eliminate the ^(C2)children from the streets,
The young men from the public squares.

²² Speak, "This is what the LORD says:
'The corpses of people will fall ^(C1)like dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.'"

²³ This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the ^(C2)mighty man boast of his might, nor a ^(C3)rich man boast of his riches;²⁴ but let the one who boasts ^(C1)boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who ^(C2)exercises ^(F1)mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I ^(C3)delight in these things," declares the LORD.

²⁵ "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet ^(C1)uncircumcised—²⁶ Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and ^(C1)all those inhabiting the desert who trim the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^(C2)uncircumcised of heart."