4. Because of the wicked things Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem, I will make my people an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
5. “Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem?Who will weep for you?Who will even bother to ask how you are?
6. You have abandoned meand turned your back on me,”says the lord.“Therefore, I will raise my fist to destroy you.I am tired of always giving you another chance.
7. I will winnow you like grain at the gates of your citiesand take away the children you hold dear.I will destroy my own people,because they refuse to change their evil ways.
8. There will be more widowsthan the grains of sand on the seashore.At noontime I will bring a destroyeragainst the mothers of young men.I will cause anguish and terrorto come upon them suddenly.
9. The mother of seven grows faint and gasps for breath;her sun has gone down while it is still day.She sits childless now,disgraced and humiliated.And I will hand over those who are leftto be killed by the enemy.I, the lord, have spoken!”
10. Then I said,“What sorrow is mine, my mother.Oh, that I had died at birth!I am hated everywhere I go.I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclosenor a borrower who refuses to pay—yet they all curse me.”