20. Women, hear the Lord’s word. Listen closely to the wordfrom his mouth:teach your daughters to mourn;teach each other to grieve.
21. Death has climbed through our windows;it has entered our fortressesto eliminate children from the streets,the youth from the squares.
22. Declare what the Lord says:Dead bodies will lielike dung on the fields,like bundles of grain after the harvest,with no one to pick them up.
23. The Lord proclaims:the learned should not boast of their knowledge,nor warriors boast of their might,nor the rich boast of their wealth.
24. No, those who boast should boast in this:that they understand and know me.I am the Lord who acts with kindness,justice, and righteousness in the world,and I delight in these things,declares the Lord.
25. The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will deal with everyone who is physically circumcised: