Jeremiah 4:19-31

Anguish over looming disaster

19 Oh, my suffering, my suffering! My pain is unbearable; my heart is in turmoil; it throbs nonstop. I can't be silent, because I hear the blast of the trumpet and the roar of the battle cry!
20 Disaster follows disaster; the whole land is ruined. Suddenly, my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment.
21 How long must I see the battle flags and hear the blast of the trumpet?
22 My people are foolish. They don't even know me! They are thoughtless children without understanding; they are skilled at doing wrong, inept at doing right.
23 I looked at the earth, and it was without shape or form; at the heavens and there was no light.
24 I looked at the mountains and they were quaking; all the hills were rocking back and forth.
25 I looked and there was no one left; every bird in the sky had taken flight.
26 I looked and the fertile land was a desert; all its towns were in ruins before the LORD, before his fury.
27 The LORD proclaims: The whole earth will become a desolation, but I will not destroy it completely.
28 Therefore, the earth will grieve and the heavens grow dark because I have declared my plan and will neither change my mind nor cancel the plan.
29 As the horsemen and archers approach, the people take flight. They hide in the bushes and escape to the cliffs. Every city is deserted; no one remains.
30 And you, devastated one, why dress up in scarlet, deck yourself in gold jewelry, and color your eyes with paint? In vain you get all decked out; your lovers have rejected you and now seek your life.
31 I hear the cry of a woman in labor, the distress of one delivering her first child. It is the cry of Daughter Zion, gasping for breath, her arms stretched out, and moaning, "I'm about to fall into the hands of murderers!"
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