The ruined town ¹  is shattered; all of the houses are shut up tight. ² 

Owls and wild animals ¹  will live there, ²  all kinds of wild birds ³  will settle in it. The Lord ⁴  will stretch out over her the measuring line of ruin and the plumb line ⁵  of destruction. ⁶ 

One deep stream calls out to another ¹  at the sound of your waterfalls; ²  all your billows and waves overwhelm me. ³ 

The waves of death engulfed me; the currents ¹  of chaos ²  overwhelmed me. ³ 

The waves ¹  of death engulfed me, the currents ²  of chaos ³  overwhelmed me. ⁴ 

The sea has swept over Babylon. She has been covered by a multitude ¹  of its waves. ² 

Through these things ¹  the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water.

He rescued me from my strong enemy, ¹  from those who hate me, for they were too strong for me.

to the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness, and the deepest shadow and disorder, ¹  where even the light ²  is like darkness.” ³ 

He rescued me from my strong enemy, ¹  from those who hate me, for they were too strong for me.

Create for me a pure heart, O God! ¹  Renew a resolute spirit within me! ² 

He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.

In those days ¹  no one could travel safely, ²  for total chaos had overtaken all the people of the surrounding lands. ³ 

When a country is rebellious ¹  it has many princes, ²  but by someone who is discerning and knowledgeable ³  order is maintained. ⁴ 

“I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, ¹  brothers will fight with each other, as will neighbors, cities, and kingdoms. ² 

For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! ¹  The former ones ²  will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore. ³ 

“I looked at the land and saw ¹  that it was an empty wasteland. ²  I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.

Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, ¹  full of turmoil.

For this is what the Lord says, the one who created the sky – he is the true God, ¹  the one who formed the earth and made it; he established it, he did not create it without order, ²  he formed it to be inhabited – “I am the Lord, I have no peer.

The Lord did so; a ¹  thick ²  swarm of flies came into ³  Pharaoh’s house and into the houses ⁴  of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined ⁵  because of the swarms of flies.