'How Long' in the Bible
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,That you may be saved.How long will your wicked and immoral thoughtsLodge within you?
How long [O Lord] must I see the banner [marking the way for flight]And hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to run for safety]?
How long must the land mournAnd the grass of the countryside wither?Because of the wickedness and hypocrisy of those who live in it,The beasts and the birds are consumed and are swept away [by the drought],Because men [mocking me] have said, “He will not [live long enough to] see [what happens at] our final end.”
“I have seen your vile and detestable acts,Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols],And the lewdness of your prostitutionOn the hills in the fields.Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem!How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?”
How long [shall this state of affairs continue]? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart,
“How long will you hesitate [to return],O you faithless and renegade daughter?For the Lord has created a new thing in the land [of Israel]:A woman will encompass (tenderly love) a man.”
“Baldness [as a sign of mourning] will come on Gaza;Ashkelon will be cut off and ruined.O remnant of their valley,How long will you gash yourselves [as a sign of mourning]?
“O you sword of the Lord,How long will it be before you are quiet?Put yourself into your sheath;Rest and be still.