Jeremiah 4:19-29
19
Oh, my anguish, my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds within me,
I cannot keep silent.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
I have heard the battle cry.
20
Disaster follows disaster;
the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.
21
How long must I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22
“My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good.”
23
I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone.
24
I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.
25
I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.
26
I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27
This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,
though I will not destroy it completely.
28
Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow dark,
because I have spoken and will not relent,
I have decided and will not turn back.”
29
At the sound of horsemen and archers
every town takes to flight.
Some go into the thickets;
some climb up among the rocks.
All the towns are deserted;
no one lives in them.