So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that that was the word of the Lord.

ד (Dalet) The roads to Zion ¹  mourn ²  because no one ³  travels to the festivals. ⁴  All her city gates ⁵  are deserted; ⁶  her priests groan. ⁷  Her virgins grieve; ⁸  she is in bitter anguish! ⁹ 

So a report about him spread throughout Syria. People ¹  brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions, those who had seizures, ²  paralytics, and those possessed by demons, ³  and he healed them.

and has a reputation for good works: as one who has raised children, ¹  practiced hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, helped those in distress – as one who has exhibited all kinds of good works. ² 

But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases ¹  because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

After all this happened, the Lord afflicted him with an incurable intestinal disease. ¹ 

King Tiglath-pileser ¹  of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support. ² 

for the needy are not permanently ignored, ¹  the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed. ² 

I will boast ¹  in the Lord; let the oppressed hear and rejoice! ² 

I am oppressed and suffering! O God, deliver and protect me! ¹ 

For he will rescue the needy ¹  when they cry out for help, and the oppressed ²  who have no defender.

Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame! Let the oppressed and poor praise your name! ¹ 

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises.

And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted ¹  your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that ²  you lay the burden of this entire people on me?

The Lord afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease ¹  until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, ²  while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.

With all my strength I will say, ¹  “O Lord, who can compare to you? You rescue ²  the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; ³  the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.” ⁴ 

ל (Lamed) Is it nothing to you, ¹  all you who pass by on the road? ²  Look and see! Is there any pain like mine? The Lord ³  has afflicted me, ⁴  he ⁵  has inflicted it on me when ⁶  he burned with anger. ⁷ 

For the household gods ¹  have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. ² 

The people ¹  who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.

Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill. ¹