Becauseof thisI must lamentand wail,I must gobarefootand naked;I must makea lamentlike the jackalsAnd a mourninglike the ostriches.
Now in the fourteenthyearof KingHezekiah,Sennacheribkingof Assyriacameup againstallthe fortifiedcitiesof Judahand seizedthem.
When Mordecailearnedallthat had been done,he torehis clothes,puton sackclothand ashes,and wentout into the midstof the cityand wailedloudlyand bitterly.
"I have becomea brotherto jackalsAnd a companionof ostriches.
I resemblea pelicanof the wilderness;I have becomelike an owlof the wasteplaces.
But desertcreatureswill liedownthere,And their houseswill be fullof owls;Ostrichesalso will livethere,and shaggygoatswill frolicthere.
Hyenaswill howlin their fortifiedtowers And jackalsin their luxuriouspalaces.Her [fateful] timealso will sooncomeAnd her dayswill not be prolonged.
ThereforeI will weepbitterlyfor Jazer,for the vineof Sibmah;I will drenchyou with my tears,O Heshbonand Elealeh;For the shoutingoveryour summerfruitsand your harvesthas fallenaway.
For thisreasonmy loinsare fullof anguish;Painshave seizedme like the painsof a woman in labor.I am sobewilderedI cannothear,soterrifiedI cannotsee.
ThereforeI say,"Turnyour eyesawayfrom me, Let me weepbitterly,Do not tryto comfortme concerningthe destructionof the daughterof my people."
Tremble,you [women] whoare at ease;Be troubled,you complacent[daughters]; Strip,undressand put[sackcloth] on [your] waist,
My soul,my soul!I am in anguish!Oh,my heart!My heartis poundingin me; I cannotbe silent,Becauseyou have heard,O my soul,The soundof the trumpet,The alarmof war.
Ohthat my headwere watersAnd my eyesa fountainof tears,That I might weepdayand nightFor the slainof the daughterof my people!
"For the mountainsI will takeup a weepingand wailing,And for the pasturesof the wildernessa dirge,Becausethey are laidwastesothat noonepassesthrough,And the lowingof the cattleis not heard;Boththe birdsof the skyand the beastshave fled;they are gone.
"For a voiceof wailingis heardfrom Zion,Howare we ruined!We are putto greatshame,For we have leftthe land,Becausethey have castdownour dwellings.'"
"Sonof man,wailfor the hordesof Egyptand bringit down,her and the daughtersof the powerfulnations,to the netherworld,with those who godownto the pit;
"On that daythey will takeup againstyou a tauntAnd uttera bitterlamentation[and] say,'We are completelydestroyed!He exchangesthe portionof my people;HowHe removesit from me! To the apostateHe apportionsour fields.'
He alsostrippedoffhis clothes,and he tooprophesiedbeforeSamueland laydownnakedallthat dayand allthat night.Thereforethey say,"Is Saulalsoamong the prophets?"
