The Prophet Mourns for the People

18 I would comfort myself in sorrow;
My heart is faint in me.
19 Listen! The voice,
The cry of the daughter of my people
From (A)a far country:
Is not the Lord in Zion?
Is not her King in her?”

“Why have they provoked Me to anger
With their carved images—
With foreign idols?”

20 “The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”

21 (B)For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt.
I am (C)mourning;
Astonishment has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no (D)balm in Gilead,
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no recovery
For the health of the daughter of my people?

Disobedience Brings God’s Judgment

Oh, (E)that my head were waters,
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the daughter of my people!
Oh, that I had in the wilderness
A lodging place for travelers;
That I might leave my people,
And go from them!
For (F)they are all adulterers,
An assembly of treacherous men.

18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people
because of them that dwell in a far country:
Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her?
Why have they provoked me to anger
with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt;
I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?
why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Oh that my head were waters,
and mine eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men;
that I might leave my people, and go from them!
for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.