^{1 Ref} Sorrow to her who is uncontrolled and unclean, the cruel town!

^{2 Ref} She gave no attention to the voice, she had no use for teaching, she put no faith in the Lord, she did not come near to her God.

^{3 Ref} Her rulers are like loud-voiced lions in her; her judges are wolves of the evening, crushing up the bones before the morning.

^{4 Ref} Her prophets are good-for-nothing persons, full of deceit: her priests have made the holy place unclean and have gone violently against the law.

^{5 Ref} The Lord in her is upright; he will not do evil; every morning he lets his righteousness be seen, he is unchanging; but the evil-doer has no sense of shame.

^{6 Ref} I have had the nations cut off, their towers are broken down; I have made their streets a waste so that no one goes through them: destruction has overtaken their towns, so that there is no man living in them.

^{7 Ref} I said, Certainly you will go in fear of me, and come under my training, so that whatever I may send on her may not be cut off before her eyes: but they got up early and made all their works evil.

^{8 Ref} For this reason, go on waiting for me, says the Lord, till the day when I come up as a witness: for my purpose is to send for the nations and to get the kingdoms together, so that I may let loose on them my passion, even all my burning wrath: for all the earth will be burned up in the fire of my bitter passion.