9 “⌊Zion’s⌋ gates have sunk into the ground.⌊The Lord⌋ destroyed and shattered the bars across its ⌊gates⌋.Its king and influential people are ⌊scattered⌋ among the nations.There is no longer any instruction ⌊from Moses’ Teachings⌋.Its prophets can find no visions from the Lord.
10 The respected leaders of Zion’s people sit silently on the ground.They throw dirt on their heads and put on sackcloth.The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are worn out with tears.My stomach is churning.My heart is poured out on the groundbecause of the destruction of my people.Little children and infants faint in the city streets.
12 They’re asking their mothers for some bread and wineas they faint like wounded people in the city streets.Their lives dwindle away in their mothers’ arms.
13 “What example can I give you?What parallel can I show you, people of Jerusalem?What comparison can I make that will comfort you, beloved people of Zion?Your wounds are as deep as the sea.Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets saw misleading visions about you.They painted a good picture of you.They didn’t expose your guilt in order to make things better again.They gave you false prophecies that misled you.
15 Everyone who walks along the road shakes a fist at you.They hiss and shake their heads at Jerusalem’s people:‘Is this the city they used to call absolutely beautiful,the joy of the whole world?’