The city gates will mourn and cry, and the city itself will be like a woman sitting on the ground, stripped naked.

He has humbled those who were proud; he destroyed the strong city they lived in, and sent its walls crashing into the dust.

Shake yourself free, Jerusalem! Rise from the dust and sit on your throne! Undo the chains that bind you, captive people of Zion!

Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores.

Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud.

The LORD said to me, "Tell the king and his mother to come down from their thrones, because their beautiful crowns have fallen from their heads.

You that live in Dibon, come down from your place of honor and sit on the ground in the dust; Moab's destroyer is here and has left its forts in ruins.

Jerusalem's old men sit on the ground in silence, With dust on their heads and sackcloth on their bodies. Young women bow their heads to the ground.

Young and old alike lie dead in the streets, Young men and women, killed by enemy swords. You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger.

All the kings of the seafaring nations will come down from their thrones. They will take off their robes and their embroidered clothes and sit trembling on the ground. They will be so terrified at your fate that they will not be able to stop trembling.

You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings.

Your pride has deceived you. Your capital is a fortress of solid rock; your home is high in the mountains, and so you say to yourself, 'Who can ever pull me down?'

Even though you make your home as high as an eagle's nest, so that it seems to be among the stars, yet I will pull you down.

When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes.

the LORD had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you.

People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for medicine! All your medicine has proved useless; nothing can heal you.

Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us---

They have taken their bows and swords; they are cruel and merciless. They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride their horses. They are ready for battle against Babylonia.

Soon the enemy will cut them down and trample them like grain on a threshing place. I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, have spoken."

(SEE 2:6)

You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble.

You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty.

You have taken away his royal scepter and knocked his throne to the ground.

and overthrow kingdoms and end their power. I will overturn chariots and their drivers; the horses will die, and their riders will kill one another.

You thought you would always be a queen, and did not take these things to heart or think how it all would end.

But in a moment, in a single day, both of these things will happen. In spite of all the magic you use, you will lose your husband and children.

You women who live an easy life, free from worries, listen to what I am saying.

You have been living an easy life, free from worries; but now, tremble with fear! Strip off your clothes and tie rags around your waist.

Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children.

(SEE 28:56)

People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets; those raised in luxury are pawing through garbage for food.

Give her as much suffering and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. For she keeps telling herself: 'Here I sit, a queen! I am no widow, I will never know grief !'