16. Give glory to the Lord your God, before darkness falls, and before your feet stumble on the darkened mountains. You will expect light, but he will turn it into the shadow of death and into utter darkness.
17. But if you will not listen to this, then my soul will weep in secret before the face of your pride. It will weep bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.
18. "Say to the king and to the female ruler: Humble yourselves, sit down. For the crown of your glory has gone down from your head.
19. The cities of the south have been closed, and there is no one who may open them. All of Judah has been taken away into complete captivity.
20. Lift up your eyes and see, you who are arriving from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your famous cattle?
21. What will you say when he visits upon you? For you have taught them against you, and you have instructed them with your own head. Will not pains take hold of you, as with a woman in labor?
22. But if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things happened to me?' it is because of the greatness of your iniquity that your shame has been uncovered and the soles of your feet have been defiled.
23. If the Ethiopian is able to change his skin, or the leopard is able to change his spots, then you also may be able to do well, though you have learned evil.
24. And I will scatter them like chaff, which is carried away by the wind in the desert.
25. This is your lot, and this is the portion of your measure from me, says the Lord, because you have forgotten me, and you have had confidence in what is false.