Jeremiah 6:24-26

Contemporary English Version

“Just hearing about them
    makes us tremble with fear,
and we twist and turn in pain
    like a woman giving birth.”

“Don't work in your fields
    or walk along the roads.
It's too dangerous.
The enemy is well armed
²⁶     and attacks without warning.
So mourn, my people, as though
    your only child had died.
Wear clothes made of sackcloth^[a]
    and roll in the ash pile.”