20. Open up your eyes and seethe armies marching down from the north!Where is your flock—your beautiful flock—that he gave you to care for?
21. What will you say when the lord takes the allies you have cultivatedand appoints them as your rulers?Pangs of anguish will grip you,like those of a woman in labor!
22. You may ask yourself,“Why is all this happening to me?”It is because of your many sins!That is why you have been strippedand raped by invading armies.
23. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin?Can a leopard take away its spots?Neither can you start doing good,for you have always done evil.
24. “I will scatter you like chaffthat is blown away by the desert winds.
25. This is your allotment,the portion I have assigned to you,”says the lord,“for you have forgotten me,putting your trust in false gods.
26. I myself will strip youand expose you to shame.
27. I have seen your adultery and lust,and your disgusting idol worship out in the fields and on the hills.What sorrow awaits you, Jerusalem!How long before you are pure?”