1. If only my head were a spring of water,and my eyes a fountain of tears,I would weep day and nightfor the wounds of my people.
2. If only I could flee for shelter in the desert,to leave my peopleand forget them—for they are all adulterers,a bunch of crooks.
3. They bend their tongues like bowsto spew out lies;they are renowned in the land,but not for truth.They go from bad to worse.They don’t know me!declares the Lord.
4. Be wary of your friends!Don’t trust your sibling!Every sibling is a cheater,and every friend traffics in slander.
5. One cheats the other;no one tells the truth;they train themselves to lie;they wear themselves out by doing wrong.
6. You live in a world of deceit, and in their deceitthey refuse to know me,declares the Lord.
7. Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:I’m going to refine and test them,for what else can I do with my people?
8. Their tongue is a lethal arrow;their words are deceitful.They wish their neighbors well,but in their hearts plot their ruin.
9. Shouldn’t I punish them for this?declares the Lord;shouldn’t I avenge such a nation?
10. I will weep and wail for the mountains,and lament for the grazing lands in the wilderness.They are dried up and deserted;no sound of the flocks is heard;no sign of birds or animals is seen;all have vanished.
11. I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins,a den for wild dogs.I will make the towns of Judah a wasteland, without inhabitant.
12. Who is wise enough to understand this?Who has been taught by the Lordand can therefore explain it?Why has the land been reduced to rubbleand laid waste like a desert,with no one passing through?