1 W ho doth make my head waters, And mine eye a fountain of tears? And I weep by day and by night, For the wounded of the daughter of my people.

If only my head were a well of water, and my eyes a well of tears, that I might cry day and night for my people who have been killed!

2 W ho doth give me in a wilderness A lodging-place of travellers? And I leave my people, and go from them, For all of them adulterers, An assembly of treacherous ones.

If only I had a place in the desert for travelers to stay, that I might leave my people, and go away from them! For none of them are faithful. They are a gathering of men who cannot be trusted.

3 A nd they bend their tongue, their bow a lie, And not for stedfastness have they been mighty in the land, For from evil unto evil they have gone forth, And Me they have not known, An affirmation of Jehovah!

“They use their tongue like their bow. Lies, and not truth, rule the land. For they go from sin to sin, and they do not know Me,” says the Lord.

4 E ach of his friend -- beware ye, And on any brother, do not trust, For every brother doth utterly supplant, For every friend slanderously doth walk,

“Let every one watch his neighbor. Do not trust any brother. Because every brother sets traps, and every neighbor goes about hurting people with his talk.

5 A nd each at his friend they mock, And truth they do not speak, They taught their tongue to speak falsehood, To commit iniquity they have laboured.

Every one fools his neighbor, and does not tell the truth. They have taught their tongue to tell lies. They become tired doing so many sins.

6 t hy dwelling in the midst of deceit, Through deceit they refused to know Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.

You live in the center of false ways. In their false ways they are not willing to know Me,” says the Lord.

7 T herefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am refining them, and have tried them, For how do I do because of the daughter of My people?

So the Lord of All says, “See, I will make them pure and test them. For what else can I do with My people?

8 A slaughtering arrow their tongue, Deceit it hath spoken in its mouth, Peace with its neighbour it speaketh, And in its heart it layeth its ambush,

Their tongue is an arrow that kills. It lies. A man speaks peace to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he plans to trap him.

9 F or these things do not I see after them? An affirmation of Jehovah, Against a nation such as this doth not My soul avenge itself?

Should I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord. “Should I not make a nation such as this pay for its sins?

10 F or the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing, And for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, For they have been burnt up without any passing over, Nor have they heard the voice of cattle, From the fowl of the heavens unto the beast they have fled, they have gone.

“I will cry with a loud voice for the mountains. I will cry out in sorrow for the fields, because they are laid waste. No one passes through them. The sound of the cattle is not heard. The birds of the sky and the wild animals have run away. They are gone.

11 A nd I make Jerusalem become heaps, A habitation of dragons, And the cities of Judah I make a desolation, Without inhabitant.

I will break down Jerusalem into pieces, a place where wild dogs live. And I will lay waste the cities of Judah. No people will live there.”

12 W ho the wise man? and he understandeth this, And he to whom the mouth of Jehovah spake? And he doth declare it, For what hath the land perished? It hath been burnt up as a wilderness, Without any passing through.

Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may make it known? Why is the land destroyed and laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

13 A nd Jehovah saith: Because of their forsaking My law that I set before them, And they have not hearkened to My voice nor walked in it,

And the Lord said, “They have turned away from My Law that I have given them. They have not obeyed My voice and would not be led by it.

14 A nd they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, And after the Baalim, that their fathers taught them,

But they have followed the strongwill of their own hearts, and have gone after the false gods of Baal, as their fathers taught them.”

15 T herefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing them -- this people -- to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,

So the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “See, I will feed these people with wormwood and put poison in their drinking water.

16 A nd I have scattered them among nations Which they knew not, they and their fathers, And have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them.

I will spread them out among the nations whom they and their fathers have not known. And I will go after them with the sword until I have put an end to them.” Jerusalem Cries for Help

17 T hus said Jehovah of Hosts: Consider ye, and call for mourning women, And they come, And to the wise women send, and they come,

The Lord of All says, “Take thought and call for the women who are filled with sorrow, that they may come. Call for the women who cry for the dead, that they may come.

18 A nd they hasten, and lift up for us a wailing. And run down our eyes do tears, And from our eyelids do waters flow.

Let them hurry and cry in a loud voice for us, that tears may come from our eyes, and that our eyes will flow with water.

19 F or -- a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: How have we been spoiled! We have been greatly ashamed, Because we have forsaken the land, Because they have cast down our tabernacles.

For a sound of loud crying is heard from Zion: ‘How we are destroyed! We are filled with shame, for we have left the land because they have broken down our houses.’”

20 B ut hear, ye women, a word of Jehovah, And your ear receiveth a word of His mouth, And teach ye your daughters wailing, and each her neighbour lamentation.

Now hear the Word of the Lord, O you women. Let your ear receive the Word of His mouth. Teach your daughters a song of sorrow. Every one teach her neighbor a song for the dead.

21 F or death hath come up into our windows, It hath come into our palaces, To cut off the suckling from without, Young men from the broad places.

For death has come in through our windows. It has come into our beautiful houses of kings. It has cut off the children from the streets, and the young men from the open spaces of the city.

22 S peak thus -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And fallen hath the carcase of man, As dung on the face of the field, And as a handful after the reaper, And there is none gathering.

Say, “This is what the Lord says: ‘The dead bodies of men will fall like animal waste on the open field, and like grain after the gatherer. But no one will gather them.’”

23 T hus said Jehovah: Let not the wise boast himself in his wisdom, Nor let the mighty boast himself in his might, Let not the rich boast himself in his riches,

The Lord says, “Let not a wise man speak with pride about his wisdom. Let not the strong man speak with pride about his strength. And let not a rich man speak with pride about his riches.

24 B ut -- in this let the boaster boast himself, In understanding and knowing Me, For I Jehovah, doing kindness, Judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, For in these I have delighted, An affirmation of Jehovah.

But let him who speaks with pride speak about this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who shows loving-kindness and does what is fair and right and good on earth. For I find joy in these things,” says the Lord.

25 L o, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin,

“See, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all who have gone through the religious act of the Jews, but have not had the sin cut from their heart.

26 O n Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, And on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, And on all cutting the corner, Who are dwelling in the wilderness, For all the nations uncircumcised, And all the house of Israel uncircumcised in heart!

I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all those who live in the desert. For none of these nations have had their flesh cut. And none of the people of Israel have had the sin cut from their heart.”