Jeremiah 4:22-31

New International Version

²² “My people are fools;^(A)
    they do not know me.^(B)
They are senseless children;
    they have no understanding.^(C)
They are skilled in doing evil;^(D)
    they know not how to do good.”^(E)

²³ I looked at the earth,
    and it was formless and empty;^(F)
and at the heavens,
    and their light^(G) was gone.
²⁴ I looked at the mountains,
    and they were quaking;^(H)
    all the hills were swaying.
²⁵ I looked, and there were no people;
    every bird in the sky had flown away.^(I)
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;^(J)
    all its towns lay in ruins^(K)
    before the Lord, before his fierce anger.^(L)

“The whole land will be ruined,^(M)
    though I will not destroy^(N) it completely.
²⁸ Therefore the earth will mourn^(O)
    and the heavens above grow dark,^(P)
because I have spoken and will not relent,^(Q)
    I have decided and will not turn back.^(R)”

²⁹ At the sound of horsemen and archers^(S)
    every town takes to flight.^(T)
Some go into the thickets;
    some climb up among the rocks.^(U)
All the towns are deserted;^(V)
    no one lives in them.

³⁰ What are you doing,^(W) you devastated one?
    Why dress yourself in scarlet
    and put on jewels^(X) of gold?
Why highlight your eyes with makeup?^(Y)
    You adorn yourself in vain.
Your lovers^(Z) despise you;
    they want to kill you.^(AA)

³¹ I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,^(AB)
    a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of Daughter Zion^(AC) gasping for breath,^(AD)
    stretching out her hands^(AE) and saying,
“Alas! I am fainting;
    my life is given over to murderers.”^(AF)