16. I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’”
17. The Lord who rules over all told me to say to this people,“Take note of what I say.Call for the women who mourn for the dead!Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”
18. I said, “Indeed, let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyesand our eyelids overflow with water.
19. For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.They will wail, ‘We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced!For our houses have been torn downand we must leave our land.’”
20. I said, “So now, you wailing women, hear what the Lord says.Open your ears to the words from his mouth.Teach your daughters this mournful song,and each of you teach your neighbor this lament.
21. ‘Death has climbed in through our windows.It has entered into our fortified houses.It has taken away our children who play in the streets.It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’
22. Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says,“The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywherelike manure scattered on a field.They will lie scattered on the ground like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’”
23. The Lord says,“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful.Rich people should not boast that they are rich.
24. If people want to boast, they should boast about this:They should boast that they understand and know me.They should boast that they know and understandthat I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earthand that I desire people to do these things,”says the Lord.
25. The Lord says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh.
26. That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. Moreover, none of the people of Israel are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.”