I was in peace, and he has shattered me. ¹  He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. ²  He has made me his target;

He tears me down ¹  on every side until I perish; ²  he uproots ³  my hope ⁴  like one uproots ⁵  a tree.

If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, ¹ 

Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish! Let them know that God rules in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)

In my time of trouble I sought ¹  the Lord. I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ²  I ³  refused to be comforted.

Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants be avenged among the nations! ¹ 

It is vain for you to rise early, come home late, and work so hard for your food. ¹  Yes, ²  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ³ 

before the silver cord is removed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the well, ¹  or the water wheel ²  is broken at the cistern –

Like a frightened gazelle ¹  or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, ²  each will run to his homeland.

It ¹  furiously struck down nations with unceasing blows. ²  It angrily ruled over nations, oppressing them without restraint. ³ 

Here is a message about Dumah: ¹  Someone calls to me from Seir, ²  “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” ³ 

They will be imprisoned in a pit, ¹  locked up in a prison, and after staying there for a long time, ²  they will be punished. ³ 

Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you; indeed, ¹  every morning it will sweep by, it will come through during the day and the night.” ²  When this announcement is understood, it will cause nothing but terror.

Now go, write it ¹  down on a tablet in their presence, ²  inscribe it on a scroll, so that it might be preserved for a future time as an enduring witness. ³ 

I see ¹  one destruction after another taking place, so that the whole land lies in ruins. I see our ²  tents suddenly destroyed, their ³  curtains torn down in a mere instant. ⁴ 

I said, “Indeed, ¹  let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us. Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes and our eyelids overflow with water.

My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds. ¹  They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it. They will be disappointed in their harvests ²  because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger. ³ 

I made Jerusalem ¹  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ²  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ³  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ⁴  Such is already becoming the case! ⁵ 

But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture. They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan. They will eat until they are full ¹  on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead. ² 

What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight. ¹  Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.