²⁰ My home is gone,
    and no one is left to help me rebuild it.
My children have been taken away,
    and I will never see them again.

“A cry is heard in Ramah—
    deep anguish and bitter weeping.
Rachel weeps for her children,
    refusing to be comforted—
    for her children are gone.”

²⁰ The generations born in exile will return and say,
    ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’
²¹ Then you will think to yourself,
    ‘Who has given me all these descendants?
For most of my children were killed,
    and the rest were carried away into exile.
I was left here all alone.
    Where did all these people come from?
Who bore these children?
    Who raised them for me?’”

²² This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
    “See, I will give a signal to the godless nations.
They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms;
    they will bring your daughters on their shoulders.

⁴ He bends his bow against his people,
    as though he were their enemy.
His strength is used against them
    to kill their finest youth.
His fury is poured out like fire
    on beautiful Jerusalem.^[a]

⁵ Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel
    like an enemy.
He has destroyed her palaces
    and demolished her fortresses.
He has brought unending sorrow and tears
    upon beautiful Jerusalem.

⁶ He has broken down his Temple
    as though it were merely a garden shelter.
The Lord has blotted out all memory
    of the holy festivals and Sabbath days.
Kings and priests fall together
    before his fierce anger.

⁵ Her oppressors have become her masters,
    and her enemies prosper,
for the Lord has punished Jerusalem
    for her many sins.
Her children have been captured
    and taken away to distant lands.

¹⁶ And I have put my words in your mouth
    and hidden you safely in my hand.
I stretched out^[a] the sky like a canopy
    and laid the foundations of the earth.
I am the one who says to Israel,
    ‘You are my people!’”

⁷ The wicked die and disappear,
    but the family of the godly stands firm.