Zion spreads out her hands, [But] no one comforts her; The LORD has commanded concerning Jacob [That] those around him [become] his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

Also on your skirts is found The blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, But plainly on all these things.

I have seen your adulteries And your [lustful] neighings, The lewdness of your harlotry, Your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?"

She has grown weary with lies, And her great scum has not gone from her. [Let] her scum [be] in the fire!

In your filthiness [is] lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.

Oh, that they were wise, [that] they understood this, [That] they would consider their latter end!

And you said, 'I shall be a lady forever,' [So] that you did not take these [things] to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them.

The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their [own] power; And My people love [to have it] so. But what will you do in the end?

For the time [has come] for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if [it begins] with us first, what will [be] the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

How lonely sits the city [That was] full of people! [How] like a widow is she, Who [was] great among the nations! The princess among the provinces Has become a slave!

How the gold has become dim! [How] changed the fine gold! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered At the head of every street.

For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen, Because their tongue and their doings [Are] against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory.

But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for [your] pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Humble yourselves; Sit down, For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory."

She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears [are] on her cheeks; Among all her lovers She has none to comfort [her.] All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.

Zion spreads out her hands, [But] no one comforts her; The LORD has commanded concerning Jacob [That] those around him [become] his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

"They have heard that I sigh, [But] no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; They are glad that You have done [it.] Bring on the day You have announced, That they may become like me.

How shall I console you? To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin [is] spread wide as the sea; Who can heal you?

Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter -- On the side of their oppressors [there is] power, But they have no comforter.

"Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD's hand Double for all her sins."

" O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, [and] not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires.

" Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.

And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who [are] in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

"and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey." '

So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

'Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.

Then she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head."

"It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day."

For the LORD saw [that] the affliction of Israel [was] very bitter; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel.

" Now therefore, our God, The great, the mighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and mercy: Do not let all the trouble seem small before You That has come upon us, Our kings and our princes, Our priests and our prophets, Our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins.

Consider my affliction and deliver me, For I do not forget Your law.

"Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.

"O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should misunderstand, Lest they should say, "Our hand [is] high; And it is not the LORD who has done all this." '

They said in their hearts, "Let us destroy them altogether." They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our signs; [There is] no longer any prophet; Nor [is there] any among us who knows how long.

Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.

Do not forget the voice of Your enemies; The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.

Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; Do not further his [wicked] scheme, [Lest] they be exalted. Selah

'It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of [the] Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up [your] prayer for the remnant that is left.' "

"Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.

"Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised [your] voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.

Because your rage against Me and your tumult Have come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back By the way which you came." '

" Make him drunk, Because he exalted [himself] against the LORD. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, And he shall also be in derision.

" Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel.

This they shall have for their pride, Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats Against the people of the LORD of hosts.

who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.