<p class="poetry">Your land is devastated,p> <p class="poetry">your cities burned with fire.p> <p class="poetry">Right before your eyes your cropsp> <p class="poetry">are being destroyed by foreign invaders.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They leave behind devastation and destruction.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">May the creditor seize<n id="1" /> all he owns!p> <p class="poetry">May strangers loot his property!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">lest strangers devour<n id="1" /> your strength,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and your labor<n id="3" /> benefit<n id="4" /> another man&#8217;s house.p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Foreigners will take care of<n id="2" /> your sheep;p> <p class="poetry">foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;Adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband!

<p class="poetry">I dug wells and drankp> <p class="poetry">water in foreign lands.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">With the soles of my feet I dried upp> <p class="poetry">all the rivers of Egypt.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">like heat<n id="1" /> in a dry land,p> <p class="poetry">you humble the boasting foreigners.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so he causes the song of tyrants to cease.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon?p> <p class="poetry">Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow?<n id="1" />p>

&#8216;But I will take you out of the city.<n id="1" /> And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you.

<p class="poetry">You will die the death of the uncircumcised<n id="1" /> by the hand of foreigners;p> <p class="poetry">for I have spoken, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">They have committed treason<n id="1" /> against the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">because they bore illegitimate children.p> <p class="poetry">Soon<n id="2" /> the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.p>

<p class="poetry">For foreigners<n id="1" /> attack me;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life.<n id="3" /> (Selah)p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="1" /> you have made the city<n id="2" /> into a heap of rubble,p> <p class="poetry">the fortified town into a heap of ruins;p> <p class="poetry">the fortress of foreigners<n id="3" /> is no longer a city,p> <p class="poetry">it will never be rebuilt.p>

<p class="poetry">Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear outp> <p class="poetry">and your throats become dry.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But you say, &#8216;It is useless for you to try and stop mep> <p class="poetry">because I love those foreign gods<n id="2" /> and want to pursue them!&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">When the time for them to be rescued comes,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will rescue you from foreign subjugation.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will deliver you from captivity.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.p>

<p class="poetry">I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will winnow her and strip her land bare.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">This will happen when<n id="3" /> they come against her from every direction,p> <p class="poetry">when it is time to destroy her.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8216;We<n id="1" /> are ashamed because we have been insulted.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Our faces show our disgrace.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For foreigners have invadedp> <p class="poetry">the holy rooms<n id="4" /> in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">I am about to bring foreigners<n id="1" /> against you, the most terrifying of nations.p> <p class="poetry">They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and they will defile your splendor.p>

<p class="poetry">I will dry up the waterwaysp> <p class="poetry">and hand the land over to<n id="1" /> evil men.p> <p class="poetry">I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, have spoken!p>

<p class="poetry">Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but he does not recognize it!p> <p class="poetry">His head is filled with gray hair,p> <p class="poetry">but he does not realize it!p>