10 I will raise weeping and a lament
over the mountains,
a dirge over the wilderness grazing land,
for they have been so scorched
that no one passes through.
The sound of cattle is no longer heard.
From the birds of the sky to the animals,(A)
everything has fled—they have gone away.

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10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
    and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.(A)
They are desolate and untraveled,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds(B) have all fled
    and the animals are gone.

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Mourning over Judah

17 This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Consider, and summon the women who mourn;(A)
send for the skillful women.
18 Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears,
our eyelids soaked with weeping.
19 For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion:
How devastated we are.
We are greatly ashamed,(B)
for we have abandoned the land;
our dwellings have been torn down.

20 Now hear the word of the Lord, you women.
Pay attention to[a] the word of His mouth.
Teach your daughters a lament
and one another a dirge,
21 for Death(C) has climbed through our windows;
it has entered our fortresses,
cutting off children from the streets,
young men from the squares.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 9:20 Lit Your ears must receive

17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women(A) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.(B)
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined(C) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.(D)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.(E)
21 Death has climbed in through our windows(F)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men(G) from the public squares.

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Micah’s Lament

Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will walk barefoot and naked.(A)
I will howl like the jackals(B)
and mourn like ostriches.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:8 Or eagle owls; lit daughters of the desert

Weeping and Mourning

Because of this I will weep(A) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot(B) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.

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