Jer 9:19 | NETfull | STEP | For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion. They will wail, ‘We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced! For our houses have been torn down and we must leave our land.’”

Jeremiah 9:19

19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.
They will wail, ^{▼▼ The words “They will wail” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to make clear that this is the wailing that will be heard.} ^{▼▼ The destruction is still in the future, but it is presented graphically as though it had already taken place.} ‘We are utterly ruined! ^{▼▼ Heb “How we are ruined!”} We are completely disgraced!
For our houses have been torn down
and we must leave our land.’” ^{▼▼ The order of these two lines has been reversed for English stylistic reasons. The text reads in Hebrew “because we have left our land because they have thrown down our dwellings.” The two clauses offer parallel reasons for the cries “How ruined we are! [How] we are greatly disgraced!” But the first line must contain a prophetic perfect (because the lament comes from Jerusalem) and the second a perfect referring to a destruction that is itself future. This seems the only way to render the verse that would not be misleading.}