12 No one is wise enough to understand this.To whom has the Lord revealed thisso that they can explain it?The land dies; it has been ruined like the desertso that no one can travel through it.
13 The Lord answered,“They’ve abandoned my teachings that I placed in front of them.They didn’t obey me, and they didn’t follow them.
14 They followed their own stubborn ways and other gods—the Baals,as their ancestors taught them.”
15 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:I am going to feed these people bitternessand give them poison to drink.
16 I will scatter them among nationsthat they and their ancestors haven’t heard of.I will send armies after them until I’ve wiped them out.
17 This is what the Lord of Armies says:Consider this:Call for the women who cry at funerals.Send for those who are the most skilled.
18 They should come quickly and cry for us.Our eyes will run with tears.Our eyelids will flow with water.