²⁵ Terror and trembling will overcome my people.
    They will look for peace but not find it.

¹² The people of Maroth^[a] anxiously wait for relief,
    but only bitterness awaits them
as the Lord’s judgment reaches
    even to the gates of Jerusalem.

¹⁷ We looked in vain for our allies
    to come and save us,
but we were looking to nations
    that could not help us.

¹⁸ We couldn’t go into the streets
    without danger to our lives.
Our end was near; our days were numbered.
    We were doomed!

¹⁵ We hoped for peace, but no peace came.
    We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’

¹⁶ “The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heard
    all the way from the land of Dan in the north!
The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.
    They are coming to devour the land and everything in it—
    cities and people alike.

⁸ They don’t know where to find peace
    or what it means to be just and good.
They have mapped out crooked roads,
    and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace.

⁹ So there is no justice among us,
    and we know nothing about right living.
We look for light but find only darkness.
    We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.
¹⁰ We grope like the blind along a wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
Even at brightest noontime,
    we stumble as though it were dark.
Among the living,
    we are like the dead.
¹¹ We growl like hungry bears;
    we moan like mournful doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
    We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.
¹² For our sins are piled up before God
    and testify against us.
    Yes, we know what sinners we are.