30 And you, desolate one, (A)what will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you adorn yourself with jewelry of gold,
Although you (B)enlarge your eyes with makeup,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your [a](C)lovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a voice cry as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child.
The voice of the daughter of Zion (D)gasping for breath,
(E)Stretching out her [b]hands, saying,
“Ah, woe to me, for [c]I faint before murderers.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 4:30 Lit paramours
  2. Jeremiah 4:31 Lit palms
  3. Jeremiah 4:31 Lit my soul faints

30 And you, devastated one,
    why dress up in scarlet,
    deck yourself in gold jewelry,
    and color your eyes with paint?
In vain you get all decked out;
    your lovers have rejected you
    and now seek your life.
31 I hear the cry of a woman in labor,
    the distress of one delivering her first child.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion,
    gasping for breath,
    her arms stretched out,
    and moaning,
    “I’m about to fall into the hands of murderers!”

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