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The Lord was bent on destroying
    the wall of daughter Zion:
He stretched out the measuring line;[a]
    did not hesitate to devour,
Brought grief on rampart and wall
    till both succumbed.(A)

Her gates sank into the ground;
    he smashed her bars to bits.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
    instruction is wanting,
Even her prophets do not obtain
    any vision from the Lord.(B)

10 The elders of daughter Zion
    sit silently on the ground;
They cast dust[b] on their heads
    and dress in sackcloth;
The young women of Jerusalem
    bow their heads to the ground.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:8 The measuring line: normally used for building, here employed ironically as an instrument of destruction; cf. Is 34:11; 2 Kgs 21:13.
  2. 2:10 They cast dust: as a sign of mourning; cf. Jos 7:6; Jb 2:12; Ez 27:30.