1. “The Lord says: I led my people out of slavery in Egypt; I gave them commandments through my servants, the prophets, but they refused to listen and ignored my teaching.
2. Jerusalem, the mother who brought them into the world, says to them, ‘Go your own way, my children; I am now a widow left completely alone.
3. I took great delight in bringing you up, but you sinned against the Lord God and did what I knew was wrong, so I mourned in deep grief when I lost you.
4. What can I do for you, now that I am a widow and left completely alone? Go, my children, and ask the Lord for mercy.’
5. “Father Ezra, I call on you to testify against these people as their mother has done, because they have refused to keep my covenant.