13. I will surely consume them.There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes.Their fruit trees will all die.Whatever I gave them will soon be gone.I, the lord, have spoken!’
14. “Then the people will say,‘Why should we wait here to die?Come, let’s go to the fortified towns and die there.For the lord our God has decreed our destructionand has given us a cup of poison to drinkbecause we sinned against the lord.
15. We hoped for peace, but no peace came.We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’
16. “The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heardall the way from the land of Dan in the north!The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.They are coming to devour the land and everything in it—cities and people alike.
17. I will send these enemy troops among youlike poisonous snakes you cannot charm.They will bite you, and you will die.I, the lord, have spoken!”
18. My grief is beyond healing;my heart is broken.
19. Listen to the weeping of my people;it can be heard all across the land.“Has the lord abandoned Jerusalem?” the people ask.“Is her King no longer there?”“Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idolsand their worthless foreign gods?” says the lord.
20. “The harvest is finished,and the summer is gone,” the people cry,“yet we are not saved!”
21. I hurt with the hurt of my people.I mourn and am overcome with grief.
22. Is there no medicine in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why is there no healingfor the wounds of my people?