Jeremiah 6:24-26

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

²⁴ ‘We have heard news of them,
    our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
    pain as of a woman in labour.
²⁵ Do not go out into the field,
    or walk on the road;
for the enemy has a sword,
    terror is on every side.’

²⁶ O my poor people, put on sackcloth,
    and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only child,
    most bitter lamentation:
for suddenly the destroyer
    will come upon us.