Jeremiah 6:26

²⁴ We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.

²⁵ Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.

O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

²⁷ “I have appointed you to examine My people like ore, so you may know and try their ways.

²⁸ All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
KJV: O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
WEB: Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come on us.
ASV: O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
DARBY: Daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make mourning, [as] for an only son bitter lamentation; for the spoiler cometh suddenly upon us.
BLB: O Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes; make for yourself mourning [as for] an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly will come the destroyer upon us!

ÅB: Mitt folks datter! Omgjord deg med sekk og velt deg i aske, hold sorg som over det eneste barn, bitter veklage! Brått kommer ødeleggeren over oss.
OTB: Kle dere i sekkelerret og dekk dere med aske; klag med dyp sorg som for en eneste sønn, for plutselig vil ødeleggeren komme over oss.
B1930: Mitt folks datter! Omgjord dig med sekk og velt dig i aske, hold sorg som over det eneste barn, bitter veklage! Brått kommer ødeleggeren over oss.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Zechariah 12:10
Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Read in context
Jeremiah 4:8
So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
Read in context
Lamentations 4:6
The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand turned to help her.
Read in context
Isaiah 30:13
this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly— in an instant!
Read in context
Jeremiah 9:17–22
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
Read in context
Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
Read in context
Lamentations 3:48
Streams of tears flow from my eyes over the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Read in context
Lamentations 1:2
She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
Read in context