⁷ I will winnow you like grain at the gates of your cities
    and take away the children you hold dear.
I will destroy my own people,
    because they refuse to change their evil ways.

² Foreigners will come and winnow her,
    blowing her away as chaff.
They will come from every side
    to rise against her in her day of trouble.

¹⁶ You will toss them into the air,
    and the wind will blow them all away;
    a whirlwind will scatter them.
Then you will rejoice in the Lord.
    You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹³ For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent.
    They will not seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

¹² Even if you do have children who grow up,
    I will take them from you.
It will be a terrible day when I turn away
    and leave you alone.
¹³ I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre.
    But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”

¹⁴ O Lord, what should I request for your people?
    I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth
    and breasts that give no milk.

¹⁵ The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
    because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
    because all their leaders are rebels.
¹⁶ The people of Israel are struck down.
    Their roots are dried up,
    and they will bear no more fruit.
And if they give birth,
    I will slaughter their beloved children.”

¹⁷ My God will reject the people of Israel
    because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
    homeless among the nations.

²¹ So let their children starve!
    Let them die by the sword!
Let their wives become childless widows.
    Let their old men die in a plague,
    and let their young men be killed in battle!

“‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
    When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?
⁵ Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path?
    Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back?
They cling tightly to their lies
    and will not turn around.

³ Lord, you are searching for honesty.
You struck your people,
    but they paid no attention.
You crushed them,
    but they refused to be corrected.
They are determined, with faces set like stone;
    they have refused to repent.