Jeremiah 9:17-21

Mourning over Judah

^{Tools
17} This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Consider, and summon the women who mourn;^(A)
send for the skillful women.

^{Tools
18}

Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears,
our eyelids soaked with weeping.

^{Tools
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.

^{Tools
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,

^{Tools
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.

Footnotes:

a. Jeremiah 9:20: Lit Your ears must receive

Cross references:

A. Jeremiah 9:17: Ecclesiastes 12:5; Amos 5:16

B. Jeremiah 9:19: Jeremiah 2:26; Jeremiah 6:15; Jeremiah 8:12

C. Jeremiah 9:21: Job 18:13; Job 28:22; Psalm 49:14