Jeremiah 9:17-22

New International Version

¹⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^(A) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
¹⁸Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.^(B)
¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined^(C) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.^(D)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.^(E)
²¹Death has climbed in through our windows^(F)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men^(G) from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung^(H) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”

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Jeremiah 9:17-22

New American Standard Bible

¹⁷This is what the Lord of armies says:

“Consider and call for the ^(A)mourning women, that they may come;
And send for the ^[a]^(B)skillful women, that they may come!
¹⁸Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us,
So that our ^(C)eyes may shed tears,
And our eyelids flow with water.
¹⁹For a voice of ^(D)wailing is heard from Zion:
‘^(E)How devastated we are!
We are put to great shame,
For we have ^(F)abandoned the land
Because they have torn down our homes.’”
²⁰Now hear the word of the Lord, you ^(G)women,
And let your ears receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.
²¹For ^(H)death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To eliminate the ^(I)children from the streets,
The young men from the public squares.
²²Speak, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The corpses of people will fall ^(J)like dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”