“Plow your uncultivated ground [for a season],
And do not sow among thorns.
⁴ 
“Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way]
And burn and there will be no one to quench it,
Because of the evil of your acts.”

⁵ 
Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
⁶ 
“Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem’s walls]!
Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile],
For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon),
And great destruction.
⁷ 
“A lion has left his lair,
And a destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone out from his place
To desolate your land;
Your cities will be in ruins
Without an inhabitant.
⁸ 
“For this reason, put on sackcloth [for mourning],
Lament (mourn with expressions of grief for the dead) and wail,
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.”

¹³ 
“Behold, the enemy comes up like clouds,
His chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe (judgment is coming) to us, for we are ruined!”

¹⁴ 
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long will your wicked and immoral thoughts
Lodge within you?
¹⁵ 
For a voice declares from Dan [far in the north],
And proclaims evil from ^[b]Mount Ephraim.
¹⁶ 
“Warn the [neighboring] nations now [that our enemy is coming]!
Announce to Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers are coming from a far country,
And they lift their voices and shout against the cities of Judah.
¹⁷ 
‘Like watchmen of a field they are against her on all sides,
Because she has rebelled against Me,’ says the Lord.
¹⁸ 
“Your ways and your deeds
Have brought these things on you.
This is your tragedy and doom; how bitter,
How it has touched your heart!”

²³ 
I looked at the earth [in my vision], and behold, it was [as at the time of creation] formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
²⁴ 
I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were trembling,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
²⁵ 
I looked, and behold, there was no man,
And all the birds of the air had fled.
²⁶ 
I looked, and behold, the fertile land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the [presence of the] Lord, before His fierce anger.

²⁷ 
Therefore says the Lord,
“The whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will not cause total destruction.^(A)
28 
“For this reason the earth shall mourn
And the heavens above shall become dark,
Because I have spoken, I have decided,
And I will not change my mind (relent), nor will I turn back from it.”
²⁹ 
Every city runs away at the sound of the horsemen and archers.
They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
Every city is deserted,
And no man lives in them.
³⁰ 
And you, O desolate one, what will you do?
Though you clothe yourself in scarlet,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
You make yourself beautiful in vain.
Your lovers (allies) despise you;
They seek your life.
³¹ 
For I heard a cry like a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
The cry of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), who gasps for breath,
Who stretches out her hands, saying,
“Woe is me [my judgment comes]! I faint [in fear] before the murderers.”