¹⁴ Why do we sit still?
Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities
    and perish there,
for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and has given us poisoned water to drink
    because we have sinned against the Lord.^(A)
15 We look for peace but find no good,
    for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.^(B)

¹⁶ The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan;
    at the sound of the neighing of their stallions
    the whole land quakes.
They come and devour the land and all that fills it,
    the city and those who live in it.^(C)
17 See, I am letting snakes loose among you,
    adders that cannot be charmed,
    and they shall bite you,
            says the Lord.^(D)

⁴ Beware of your neighbors,
    and put no trust in any of your kin,
for all your kin are supplanters,
    and every neighbor goes around like a slanderer.^(C)
5 They all deceive their neighbors,
    and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongues to speak lies;
    they commit iniquity and are too weary to repent.^[b](D)
6 Oppression upon oppression, deceit^[c] upon deceit!
    They refuse to know me, says the Lord.^(E)

⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
I will now refine and test them,
    for what else can I do with the daughter of my people?^(F)
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceit through the mouth.
They all speak friendly words to their neighbors
    but inwardly are planning to lay an ambush.^(G)
9 Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord,
    and shall I not bring retribution
    on a nation such as this?^(H)

¹⁰ Take up^[d] weeping and wailing for the mountains
    and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the birds of the air and the animals
    have fled and are gone.^(I)
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
    a lair of jackals,
and I will make the towns of Judah a desolation,
    without inhabitant.^(J)