¹⁶ For these things I weep;
    my eyes^[a] flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
    one to revive my courage;
my children are desolate,
    for the enemy has prevailed.^(A)

¹⁷ Zion stretches out her hands,
    but there is no one to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
    that his neighbors should become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
    a filthy thing among them.^(B)

²⁴ “We have heard news of them;
    our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
    pain as of a woman in labor.^(A)

¹⁶ I hear, and I tremble within;
    my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
    and my steps tremble^[a] beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
    to come upon the people who attack us.^(A)

¹⁹ Woe is me because of my hurt!
    My wound is severe.
But I said, “Truly this is my punishment,
    and I must bear it.”^(A)
20 My tent is destroyed,
    and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
    and they are no more;
there is no one to spread my tent again
    and to set up my curtains.^(B)
21 For the shepherds are stupid
    and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
    and all their flock is scattered.^(C)

²² Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
    a lair of jackals.^(D)