The coming destruction of Jerusalem/Judah

27 This is what Yahweh is saying:

“The entire land of Judah will be ruined,

but I will not destroy it completely.

28 I will do to my people what I said that I would do,

and I will not change my mind.

So when that happens, it will be as though the earth will mourn

and the sky will become very dark.”

29 When the people hear the sound of the enemy army marching,

they will be terrified as they flee from their cities.

Some of them will find places to hide in the bushes,

and others will run toward the mountains/hills to escape being killed by their enemies.

All the cities in Judah will be abandoned;

not one person will remain in them.

30 So you who will surely be destroyed,

why are you doing the things that you are doing now?

Why are you wearing beautiful clothes and jewelry?

Why are you putting paint around your eyes?

Doing those things will not help you,

because the people in other countries that you think love you actually despise you,

and they will try to kill you.

31 It is as though I already hear the people in Jerusalem crying very loudly,

like [SIM] a woman cries when she is giving birth to her first child;

she gasps for breath and pleads for someone to help her.

It is as though Jerusalem is crying, “Something terrible is happening to me! They are about to murder me!”