This is why the sky ¹  has held back its dew and the earth its produce. ² 

Then from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm raised in violence ¹  is broken. ² 

You gave the weary ¹  no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food.

and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ¹  decrees the Lord, ²  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

That is why the rains have been withheld, and the spring rains have not come. Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. ¹  You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ¹  or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

You grant ¹  him his heart’s desire; you do not refuse his request. ²  (Selah)

“I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ¹  I gave rain to one city, but not to another. One field ²  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

“Do not harm the boy!” ¹  the angel said. ²  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ³  that you fear ⁴  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

Jacob became furious ¹  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” ² 

But I refrained from doing so, ¹  and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Get dressed ¹  and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister at the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God, because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of your God anymore. ² 

Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming. ¹  Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’ ² 

There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do ¹  such a great evil and sin against God?”

Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal ¹  and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion! ² 

For ¹  it has been hidden from the eyes of every living creature, and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted;

God deserves praise, ¹  for ²  he did not reject my prayer or abandon his love for me! ³ 

Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has his anger stifled his compassion?”

Our affection for you is not restricted, ¹  but you are restricted in your affections for us.