and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear,`As surely as the LORD lives,' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory."
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done-- burn with no-one to quench it.
"Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:`Sound the trumpet throughout the land!' Cry aloud and say:`Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities!'
A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant.
Then I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying,`You will have peace,' when the sword is at our throats."
At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows towards my people, but not to winnow or cleanse;
Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.
"My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good."
At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight. Some go into the thickets; some climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted; no-one lives in them.
What are you doing, O devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why shade your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.
I hear a cry as of a woman in labour, a groan as of one bearing her first child--the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, "Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers."