¹⁸ Say to the king^(A) and to the queen mother,^(B)
    “Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns^(C)
    will fall from your heads.”
¹⁹ The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
    and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah^(D) will be carried into exile,
    carried completely away.

²⁰ Look up and see
    those who are coming from the north.^(E)
Where is the flock^(F) that was entrusted to you,
    the sheep of which you boasted?
²¹ What will you say when the Lord sets over you
    those you cultivated as your special allies?^(G)
Will not pain grip you
    like that of a woman in labor?^(H)
22 And if you ask yourself,
    “Why has this happened to me?”^(I)—
it is because of your many sins^(J)
    that your skirts have been torn off^(K)
    and your body mistreated.^(L)
23 Can an Ethiopian^[a] change his skin
    or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
    who are accustomed to doing evil.^(M)

²⁴ “I will scatter you like chaff^(N)
    driven by the desert wind.^(O)
25 This is your lot,
    the portion^(P) I have decreed for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten^(Q) me
    and trusted in false gods.^(R)
26 I will pull up your skirts over your face
    that your shame may be seen^(S)—
²⁷ your adulteries and lustful neighings,
    your shameless prostitution!^(T)
I have seen your detestable acts
    on the hills and in the fields.^(U)
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
    How long will you be unclean?”^(V)