Then the master of the palace, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, Shebna the scribe, and the chancellor Joah, son of Asaph, came to Hezekiah with their garments torn, and reported to him the words of the commander.
Who ever heard of such a thing, or who ever saw the like? Can a land be brought forth in one day, or a nation be born in a single moment? Yet Zion was scarcely in labor when she bore her children.
Speak to them this word: Let my eyes stream with tears night and day, without rest, Over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people, over her incurable wound.
But among Jerusalem’s prophets I saw something more shocking: Adultery, walking in deception, strengthening the power of the wicked, so that no one turns from evil; To me they are all like Sodom, its inhabitants like Gomorrah.
All my valiant warriors my Lord has cast away; He proclaimed a feast against me to crush my young men; My Lord has trodden in the wine press virgin daughter Judah.