Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power—with no one to comfort them.
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: I am going to make them eat wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.
Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink because we have sinned against the Lord.
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers, she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; her downfall was appalling, with none to comfort her. Look, O Lord, at my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!
And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
It may be that there is among you a man or woman or a family or tribe whose heart is already turning away from the Lord our God to serve the gods of those nations. It may be that there is among you a root sprouting poisonous and bitter growth.