14. Why are we just sitting here?Gather together; let us enter the fortified citiesand perish there, for the Lord our God has destroyed us.He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
15. We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good;for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
16. From Dan the snorting of horses is heard.At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes.They come to devour the land and everything in it,the city and all its residents.
17. Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you,poisonous vipers that cannot be charmed. They will bite you.This is the Lord’s declaration.
18. My joy has flown away;grief has settled on me.My heart is sick.
19. Listen — the cry of my dear peoplefrom a far away land,“Is the Lord no longer in Zion, her King not within her? ”Why have they provoked me to angerwith their carved images,with their worthless foreign idols?