1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.2 Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.3 "They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph "in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me," declares the LORD.4 "Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, "and every friend a slanderer.5 Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.6 You "live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the LORD.7 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: "See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.9 Should I not punish them for this?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?"10 I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands. They are desolate and untraveled, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. The birds have all fled and the animals are gone.11 "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there."12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?13 The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them."15 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them."17 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them.18 Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids.19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins.'"20 Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament.21 Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.22 Say, "This is what the LORD declares: "'Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.'"23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches,24 but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.25 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh —26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. "For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."

1 [Quis dabit capiti meo aquam,et oculis meis fontem lacrimarum,et plorabo die ac nocte interfectos fili populi mei ?2 Quis dabit me in solitudine diversorium viatorum,et derelinquam populum meum,et recedam ab eis ?quia omnes adulteri sunt,ctus prvaricatorum.3 Et extenderunt linguam suamquasi arcum mendacii et non veritatis :confortati sunt in terra,quia de malo ad malum egressi sunt,et me non cognoverunt, dicit Dominus.4 Unusquisque se a proximo suo custodiat,et in omni fratre suo non habeat fiduciam :quia omnis frater supplantans supplantabit,et omnis amicus fraudulenter incedet.5 Et vir fratrem suum deridebit,et veritatem non loquentur :docuerunt enim linguam suam loqui mendacium ;ut inique agerent laboraverunt.6 Habitatio tua in medio doli :in dolo renuerunt scire me, dicit Dominus.7 Propterea hc dicit Dominus exercituum :Ecce ego conflabo, et probabo eos :quid enim aliud faciam a facie fili populi mei ?8 Sagitta vulnerans lingua eorum,dolum locuta est.In ore suo pacem cum amico suo loquitur,et occulte ponit ei insidias.9 Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus,aut in gente hujusmodi non ulciscetur anima mea ?10 Super montes assumam fletum ac lamentum,et super speciosa deserti planctum,quoniam incensa sunt, eo quod non sit vir pertransiens,et non audierunt vocem possidentis :a volucre cli usque ad pecora transmigraverunt et recesserunt.11 Et dabo Jerusalem in acervos aren,et cubilia draconum :et civitates Juda dabo in desolationem,eo quod non sit habitator.12 Quis est vir sapiens qui intelligat hoc,et ad quem verbum oris Domini fiat, ut annuntiet istud,quare perierit terra, et exusta sit quasi desertum,eo quod non sit qui pertranseat ?13 Et dixit Dominus :Quia dereliquerunt legem meam quam dedi eis,et non audierunt vocem meam,et non ambulaverunt in ea,14 et abierunt post pravitatem cordis sui,et post Baalim, quod didicerunt a patribus suis :15 idcirco hc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Isral :Ecce ego cibabo populum istum absinthio,et potum dabo eis aquam fellis.16 Et dispergam eos in gentibusquas non noverunt ipsi et patres eorum,et mittam post eos gladium,donec consumantur.17 Hc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Isral :Contemplamini, et vocate lamentatrices, et veniant :et ad eas qu sapientes sunt mittite, et properent :18 festinent, et assumant super nos lamentum :deducant oculi nostri lacrimas,et palpebr nostr defluant aquis.19 Quia vox lamentationis audita est de Sion :Quomodo vastati sumus,et confusi vehementer ?quia dereliquimus terram ;quoniam dejecta sunt tabernacula nostra.20 Audite ergo, mulieres, verbum Domini,et assumant aures vestr sermonem oris ejus,et docete filias vestras lamentum,et unaquque proximam suam planctum :21 quia ascendit mors per fenestras nostras ;ingressa est domos nostras,disperdere parvulos deforis,juvenes de plateis.] 22 Loquere : [Hc dicit Dominus :Et cadet morticinum hominisquasi stercus super faciem regionis,et quasi fnum post tergum metentis,et non est qui colligat.23 Hc dicit Dominus :Non glorietur sapiens in sapientia sua,et non glorietur fortis in fortitudine sua,et non glorietur dives in divitiis suis :24 sed in hoc glorietur, qui gloriatur,scire et nosse me,quia ego sum Dominus qui facio misericordiam,et judicium, et justitiam in terra :hc enim placent mihi, ait Dominus.25 Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus,et visitabo super omnem qui circumcisum habet prputium,26 super gyptum, et super Juda, et super Edom,et super filios Ammon, et super Moab ;et super omnes qui attonsi sunt in comam,habitantes in deserto :quia omnes gentes habent prputium,omnis autem domus Isral incircumcisi sunt corde.]