29At the sound of horsemen and archers

every town takes to flight.

Some go into the thickets;

some climb up among the rocks.

All the towns are deserted;

no one lives in them.

30What are you doing, O devastated one?

Why dress yourself in scarlet

and put on jewels of gold?

Why shade your eyes with paint?

You adorn yourself in vain.

Your lovers despise you;

they seek your life.

31I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,

a groan as of one bearing her first child—

the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,

stretching out her hands and saying,

“Alas! I am fainting;

my life is given over to murderers.”