1 “And it so came to be, that when my son had entered into his wedding room, he fell down, and died.
2 “Then we all put out the lamps, and all my neighbours rose up to comfort me; so I remained quiet to the evening of the second day.
3 “And it came to be, when they had all finished comforting me, so that I might be quiet; then I rose up by night and fled, and came here to this field, as you see.
4 “And now I plan not to return to the city, but to stay here, and to neither eat nor drink, but to continually mourn and fast until I die.”
5 Then I left the thoughts in which I was, and spoke to her in wrath, saying,
6 “You foolish woman above any other, do you not see our mourning, and what comes upon us?
7 “For Tsiyon, our mother, is full of all grief, and humbled greatly, mourning bitterly.
8 “And now, seeing we all mourn and are sad, for we are all in grief, and you are grieved for one son?
9 “For ask the earth, and it shall tell you, that it is the one which ought to mourn for the fall of so many that grow upon it.
10 “For out of it came all in the beginning, and out of it shall all others come, and see, almost all of them walk to destruction, and a multitude of them shall be completely uprooted.
11 “Who then should make more mourning than it, which has lost so great a multitude; and not you, who are grieved for but one?
12 “But if you say to me, ‘My lamentation is not like that of the earth, because I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I brought forth with pains, and bore with sorrows,
13 but the earth not so; for the multitude present in it have gone as they came, according to the way of the earth.’
14 “Then I say to you, as you have brought forth with labour; even so the earth has also given its fruit, namely man, ever since the beginning to He who made it.
15 “Now therefore keep your sorrow to yourself, and bear that which has befallen you with good courage.
16 “For if you acknowledge the judgment of Elohim to be righteous, you shall both receive your son in time, and shall be praised among women.
17 “Go your way then into the city to your husband.”
18 And she said to me, “That I shall not do. I shall not go into the city, but I shall die here.”
19 So I proceeded to speak further to her, and said,
20 “Do not do so, but let me give counsel; for how many are the adversities of Tsiyon? Be comforted in regard to the sorrow of Yerushalayim.
21 “For you see that our Miqdash is laid waste, our altar broken down, our Hĕyḵal destroyed;
22 our harp is laid low, our song is put to silence, our rejoicing is at an end, the light of our lampstand is put out, the ark of our Covenant is plundered, our qodesh objects are defiled, and our name that we are called by is almost profaned; our children are put to shame, our kohenim are burned, our Lĕwites have gone into captivity, our maidens are defiled, and our wives ravished; our righteous men carried away, our little ones destroyed, our young men are brought into bondage, and our strong men have become weak;
23 and greatest of all, the seal of Tsiyon has now lost its esteem; for it is delivered into the hands of those who hate us!
24 “And therefore shake off your great sadness, and put away the great number of sorrows, that the Almighty may be kind to you again, and the Most High shall give you rest and ease from your labour.”
25 And it came to be while I was talking with her, see, her face suddenly shone exceedingly, and her face lit up, so that I was afraid of her, and wondered what it might be.
26 And see, suddenly she made a very great fearful cry, so that the earth shook at the noise of the woman.
27 And I looked, and see, the woman appeared to me no more, but there was a city built, and a large place revealed itself from the foundations; then I was afraid, and cried with a loud voice, and said,
28 “Where is Uri’ĕl the messenger, who came to me in the beginning? For he has caused me to fall into many trances, for my end is turned into corruption, and my prayer to rebuke.”
29 And as I was speaking these words, see, he came to me, and looked upon me.
30 And see, I lay as one dead, and my understanding was removed; and he took me by the right hand, and comforted me, and stood me on my feet, and said to me,
31 “What is the matter with you? And why are you so worried? And why is your understanding and the thoughts of your heart troubled?
32 And I said, “Because you have forsaken me, and yet I did according to your words, and I went into the field, and look, I have seen, and still see that which I am unable to express!”
33 And he said to me, “Stand up like a man, and I shall advise you.”
34 Then I said, “Speak on, my master; only do not forsake me, lest I die lacking my expectancy.
35 “For I have seen what I did not know, and heard what I do not know.
36 “Or are my senses deceived, or is my being in a dream?
37 “Now therefore I plead that you reveal to your servant about this vision.”
38 Then he answered me, and said, “Listen to me, and I shall inform you, and tell you why you are afraid; for the Most High shall reveal many secrets to you.
39 “He has seen that your way is righteous; in that you grieve continually for your people, and make great lamentation for Tsiyon.
40 “This therefore is the meaning of the vision which you recently saw:
41 “You saw a woman mourning, and you began to comfort her;
42 but now you see the likeness of the woman no more, but a built city appeared to you.
43 “And whereas she told you of the death of her son, this is the interpretation:
44 “This woman, whom you saw is Tsiyon; and when she spoke to you, even she whom you see as a built city,
45 for when she said to you that she has been barren thirty years; those are the thirty years in which there was no offering made in her.
46 “But after thirty years Shelomoh built the city and offered offerings, and then bore the barren a son.
47 “And when she told you that she nourished him with labour; that was the dwelling in Yerushalayim.
48 “But when she said to you, ‘My son coming into his marriage room had a fall, and died.’ This was the destruction that came upon Yerushalayim.
49 “And, see, you saw her likeness, and because she mourned for her son, you began to comfort her; and these matters which have taken place are to be opened unto you.
50 “For now the Most High sees that you are sincerely grieved, and suffer in your whole heart for her, so He has showed you the brightness of her esteem, and the comeliness of her loveliness.
51 “And therefore I asked that you remain in the field where no house was built;
52 for I knew that the Most High would show this to you.
53 “Therefore I commanded you to go into the field, where no foundation of any building was,
54 for no building of man is able to stand in the place where the Most High begins to show His city.
55 “And therefore do not fear, nor let your heart be afraid, but go your way in, and see the loveliness and greatness of the building, as much as your eyes be able to see;
56 and then you shall hear as much as your ears may comprehend.
57 “For you are baruk above many others, and are called by the Most High; for so few are.
58 “But tomorrow at night you shall remain here;
59 and the Most High shall show you visions of what is above, which the Most High shall do for those who dwell on the earth in the last days.” So I slept that night and the next, as he commanded me.