¶ Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep² day and night for the slain of the daughter³ of my people!

Oh that I had⁴ in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for⁵ they be all adulterers, an assembly⁶ of treacherous men.

And they bend⁷ their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant⁸ for the truth upon the earth; for they⁹ proceed from evil to evil, and they know¹⁰ not me, saith the LORD.

Take ye heed¹¹ every one of his neighbour¹², and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk¹³ with slanders.

And they will¹⁴ deceive¹⁵ every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught¹⁶ their tongue to speak lies, and weary¹⁷ themselves to commit iniquity.

Thine habitation¹⁸ is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse¹⁹ to know me, saith the LORD.

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will²⁰ melt them, and try them; for how shall²¹ I do for the daughter of my people?

Their tongue²² is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one²³ speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart²⁴ he layeth his wait.

²⁵Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

¶ For the mountains²⁶ will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations²⁷ of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up²⁸, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both²⁹ the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.

And I will make Jerusalem³⁰ heaps, and a den³¹ of dragons; and I will make the cities³² of Judah desolate³³, without an inhabitant.

¶ Who is the wise³⁴ man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for³⁵ what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

³⁶And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

But have walked³⁷ after the imagination³⁸ of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will³⁹ feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

I will scatter⁴⁰ them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I⁴¹ will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call⁴² for the mourning women⁴³, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:

And let them make haste, and take⁴⁴ up a wailing for us, that our eyes⁴⁵ may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

For a voice⁴⁶ of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are⁴⁷ greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our⁴⁸ dwellings have cast us out.

¶ Yet hear⁴⁹ the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive⁵⁰ the word of his mouth, and teach⁵¹ your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.

⁵²For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall⁵³ as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

¶ Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise⁵⁴ man glory in his wisdom, neither⁵⁵ let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich⁵⁶ man glory in his riches:

But let him⁵⁷ that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth⁵⁸ me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness⁵⁹, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for⁶⁰ in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that⁶¹ I will punish⁶² all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

Egypt⁶³, and Judah⁶⁴, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners⁶⁵, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in⁶⁶ the heart.