²⁹ The people of Judah will hear the sound
    of the horse soldiers and the archers,
    and the people will run away!
Some of them will hide in caves;^[a]
    some will hide in the bushes;
    some will climb up into the rocks.
All the cities of Judah will be empty.
    No one will live in them.

³⁰ Judah, you have been destroyed.
    So what are you doing now?
Why are you putting on your best red dress?
    Why are you putting on your gold jewelry?
Why are you putting on your eye makeup?
    You make yourself beautiful,
    but it is a waste of time.
Your lovers hate you.
    They are trying to kill you.
³¹ I hear a cry like a woman in labor,
    a scream like a woman giving birth to her first baby.
    It is the cry of daughter Zion.^[b]
She is lifting her hands in prayer, saying,
    “Oh! I am about to faint!
    Murderers are all around me!”