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20 “Look, O Lord, and pay attention:
    to whom have you been so ruthless?
Must women eat their own offspring,[a]
    the very children they have borne?
Are priest and prophet to be slain
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?(A)

21 They lie on the ground in the streets,
    young and old alike;
Both my young women and young men
    are cut down by the sword;
You killed them on the day of your wrath,
    slaughtered without pity.(B)

22 You summoned as to a feast day
    terrors on every side;
On the day of the Lord’s wrath,
    none survived or escaped.
Those I have borne and nurtured,
    my enemy has utterly destroyed.”(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:20 Must women eat their own offspring: extreme famine in a besieged city sometimes led to cannibalism; this becomes a stereotypical way of expressing the nearly unthinkable horrors of war; cf. Lam 4:10; Dt 28:53; 2 Kgs 6:28–29; Bar 2:3; Ez 5:10.

20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
    Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,(A)
    the children they have cared for?(B)
Should priest and prophet be killed(C)
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?(D)

21 “Young and old lie together
    in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
    have fallen by the sword.(E)
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
    you have slaughtered them without pity.(F)

22 “As you summon to a feast day,
    so you summoned against me terrors(G) on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
    no one escaped(H) or survived;
those I cared for and reared(I)
    my enemy has destroyed.”

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