A Lament over Zion

1Oh, that mine head were full of water and mine eyes a fountaine of teares, that I might weepe day and night for the slayne of the daughter of my people.

2Oh, that I had in the wildernes a cottage of wayfaring men, that I might leaue my people, and go from them: for they be all adulterers & an assembly of rebels,

3And they bende their tongues like their bowes for lyes: but they haue no courage for the trueth vpon the earth: for they proceede from euill to worse, and they haue not knowen mee, sayth the Lord.

4Let euery one take heede of his neighbour, and trust you not in any brother: for euery brother will vse deceite, and euery friend will deale deceitfully,

5And euery one wil deceiue his friende, and wil not speake the trueth: for they haue taught their tongues to speake lies, and take great paynes to do wickedly.

6Thine habitation is in the middes of deceiuers: because of their deceit they refuse to know me, sayth the Lord.

7Therefore thus sayth the Lorde of hostes, Behold, I wil melt them, & trie them: for what should I els do for the daughter of my people?

8Their tongue is as an arow shot out, and speaketh deceite: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart hee layeth waite for him.

9Shal I not visit them for these things, saith the Lorde? Or shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this?

10Vpon the mountaines will I take vp a weeping and a lamentation, and vpon the fayre places of the wildernes a mourning, because they are burnt vp: so that none can passe through them, neyther can men heare the voyce of the flocke: both the foule of the aire, and the beast are fled away and gone.

11And I wil make Ierusalem an heape, and a den of dragons, & I will make the cities of Iudah waste, without an inhabitant.

12Who is wise, to vnderstande this? And to whome the mouth of the Lorde hath spoken, euen he shal declare it. Why doth the land perish, and is burnt vp like a wildernesse, that none passeth through? 13And the Lorde sayeth, Because they haue forsaken my Lawe, which I set before them, and haue not obeyed my voice, neither walked thereafter, 14But haue walked after the stubbernesse of their owne heart, and after Baalims, which their fathers taught them, 15Therefore thus sayth the Lorde of hostes, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feede this people with wormewood, and giue them waters of gall to drinke: 16I wil scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers haue knowen, and I will send a sworde after them, til I haue consumed them.

17Thus sayeth the Lorde of hostes, Take heede, and call for the mourning women, that they may come, and send for skilfull women that they may come,

18And let them make haste, & let them take vp a lamentation for vs, that our eyes may cast out teares & our eye liddes gush out of water.

19For a lamentable noyse is heard out of Zion, Howe are we destroyed, and vtterly confounded, for we haue forsaken the land, and our dwellings haue cast vs out.

20Therefore heare the worde of the Lord, O ye women, and let your eares regard the words of his mouth, & teach your daughters to mourne, and euery one her neighbour to lament.

21For death is come vp into our windowes, and is entred into our palaces, to destroy the children without, and the yong men in the streetes.

22Speake, thus sayth the Lorde, The carkeises of men shall lye, euen as the doung vpon the fielde, and as the handfull after the mower, and none shal gather them.

23Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisedome, nor the strong man glorie in his strength, neyther the riche man glorie in his riches. 24But let him that glorieth, glorie in this, that he vnderstandeth, and knoweth me: for I am the Lorde, which shewe mercie, iudgement, and righteousnes in the earth: for in these things I delite, sayth the Lord.

25Beholde, the dayes come, sayth the Lorde, that I wil visite all them, which are circumcised with the vncircumcised: 26Egypt and Iudah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all the vtmost corners of them that dwell in the wildernesse: for all these nations are vncircumcised, & al the house of Israel are vncircumcised in the heart.