⁵ “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem,
    and who will grieve for you?
Who will go out of his way
    to ask about your welfare?
⁶ You have deserted me,” declares the Lord.
    “You keep going backward.
I’ll reach out my hand and destroy you.
    I’m tired of showing compassion.
⁷ I’ll winnow^[a] them with a winnowing fork
    in the gates of the land.
I’ll make them childless.
    I’ll destroy my people,
        for they didn’t change their ways.
⁸ I’ll make their^[b] widows more numerous
    than the sand of the sea.
At noontime I’ll send a destroyer
    against the mother^[c] of a young man.
I’ll cause terror and anguish
    to come to her unexpectedly.
⁹ “The woman who gave birth to seven will grow faint,
    her life will expire.
Her sun will set while it’s still day.
    She will be disgraced and humiliated.
I’ll kill the rest of them with swords
    in the presence of their enemies,”
        declares the Lord.