I will pray ¹  to God, my high ridge: ²  “Why do you ignore ³  me? Why must I walk around mourning ⁴  because my enemies oppress me?”

For you are the God who shelters me. ¹  Why do you reject me? ²  Why must I walk around ³  mourning ⁴  because my enemies oppress me?

Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ¹  Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ²  on behalf of justice! ³  Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ⁴ 

They devise ¹  unjust schemes; they disguise ²  a well-conceived plot. ³  Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ⁴ 

In your distress you called out and I rescued you. I answered you from a dark thundercloud. ¹  I tested you at the waters of Meribah. ²  (Selah)

Who has woe? ¹  Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness ²  of the eyes?

The Beloved to Her Lover: Until the dawn arrives ¹  and the shadows flee, turn, ²  my beloved – be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountain gorges. ³ 

At that time ¹  men will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship, ²  into the caves where rodents and bats live, ³ 

Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead, ¹  those who keep drinking long after dark until they are intoxicated with wine. ² 

For ¹  evil burned like a fire, ²  it consumed thorns and briers; it burned up the thickets of the forest, and they went up in smoke. ³ 

Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, ¹  and the people became fuel for the fire. ²  People had no compassion on one another. ³ 

¹ I will punish the world for its evil, ²  and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. ³ 

“The people of Judah are in mourning. The people in her cities are pining away. They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow. ¹  Cries of distress come up to me ²  from Jerusalem. ³ 

I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. ¹  I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. ² 

When the time for them to be rescued comes,” ¹  says the Lord who rules over all, ²  “I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. ³  I will deliver you from captivity. ⁴  Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.

ח (Khet) Now their appearance ¹  is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up, like tree bark.

Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ¹  my hand would pull them up from there. Even if they could climb up to heaven, I would drag them down from there.

“Immediately ¹  after the suffering ²  of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ³ 

For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

You people ¹  worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. ²