Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.

I will bring on you lasting shame and lasting disgrace which will never be forgotten!’”

There is no one to plead your cause. There are no remedies for your wounds. There is no healing for you.

You kept the promise that you swore on oath to their ancestors. You gave them a land flowing with milk and honey.

“I, the Lord, do these things. I, the Lord, form the plan to bring them about. I am known as the Lord. I say to you,

‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious things which you still do not know about.’

Harness the horses to the chariots! Mount your horses! Put on your helmets and take your positions! Sharpen you spears! Put on your armor!

I, the Lord, affirm that I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false.

Babylonia will be plundered. Those who plunder it will take all they want,” says the Lord.

Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; they will be shown to be fools! Destructive forces will come against her soldiers; they will be filled with terror!

But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed. Cry out in mourning over it! Get medicine for her wounds! Perhaps she can be healed!

The food you eat will be eight ounces a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.

The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord.

You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.’

“When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.

so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.

and say: “‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay among young lions; she reared her cubs.

Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.

They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers fondled their virgin nipples there.

Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her.’