1Oh, that my head were a spring of water

and my eyes a fountain of tears!

I would weep day and night

for the slain of my people.

2Oh, that I had in the desert

a lodging place for travelers,

so that I might leave my people

and go away from them;

for they are all adulterers,

a crowd of unfaithful people.

3“They make ready their tongue

like a bow, to shoot lies;

it is not by truth

that they triumph ^a in the land.

They go from one sin to another;

they do not acknowledge me,”

declares the Lord.

4“Beware of your friends;

do not trust anyone in your clan.

For every one of them is a deceiver, ^b

and every friend a slanderer.

5Friend deceives friend,

and no one speaks the truth.

They have taught their tongues to lie;

they weary themselves with sinning.

6You ^c live in the midst of deception;

in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”

declares the Lord.

“See, I will refine and test them,

for what else can I do

because of the sin of my people?

8Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

it speaks deceitfully.

With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,

but in their hearts they set traps for them.

9Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?”

10I will weep and wail for the mountains

and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.

They are desolate and untraveled,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard.

The birds have all fled

and the animals are gone.

11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

a haunt of jackals;

and I will lay waste the towns of Judah

so no one can live there.”

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women 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.

19The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

‘How ruined 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.

Teach your daughters how to wail;

teach one another a lament.

21Death has climbed in through our windows

and has entered our fortresses;

it has removed the children from the streets

and the young men from the public squares.

“ ‘Dead bodies will lie

like dung on the open field,

like cut grain behind the reaper,

with no one to gather them.’ ”

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

24but let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,”

declares the Lord.