³⁰ In vain I have struck down your children;
    they accepted no correction.
Your own sword devoured your prophets
    like a ravening lion.^(A)
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord!^[a]
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
    or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, “We are free;
    we will come to you no more”?^(B)
32 Can a young woman forget her ornaments
    or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
    days without number.^(C)