Be silent before the Lord God, for the Lord's day of judgment is almost here. The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal; he has ritually purified his guests.

The Lord's great day of judgment is almost here; it is approaching very rapidly! There will be a bitter sound on the Lord's day of judgment; at that time warriors will cry out in battle.

This is how the once-proud city will end up -- the city that was so secure. She thought to herself, "I am unique! No one can compare to me!" What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live! Everyone who passes by her taunts her and shakes his fist.

She is disobedient; she refuses correction. She does not trust the Lord; she does not seek the advice of her God.

Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning.

Her prophets are proud; they are deceitful men. Her priests defile what is holy; they break God's laws.

The just Lord resides within her; he commits no unjust acts. Every morning he reveals his justice. At dawn he appears without fail. Yet the unjust know no shame.

I thought, 'Certainly you will respect me! Now you will accept correction!' If she had done so, her home would not be destroyed by all the punishments I have threatened. But they eagerly sinned in everything they did.