Turn toward me and have mercy on me, for I am alone ¹  and oppressed!

I stay awake; ¹  I am like a solitary bird on a roof.

God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ¹  he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ²  But sinful rebels live in the desert. ³ 

א (Alef) ^{1  2} Alas! ³  The city once full of people ⁴  now sits all alone! ⁵  The prominent ⁶  lady among the nations has become a widow! ⁷  The princess ⁸  who once ruled the provinces ⁹  has become a forced laborer!

I am like an owl ¹  in the wilderness; I am like a screech owl ²  among the ruins. ³ 

They will hear, ‘Run! Save yourselves! Even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the desert!’ ¹ 

How deserted will that once-famous city ¹  be, that city that was once filled with ²  joy! ³ 

Yet Jesus himself ¹  frequently withdrew ²  to the wilderness ³  and prayed.

But the one united with ¹  the Lord is one spirit with him. ² 

he digs a pit ¹  and then falls into the hole he has made. ² 

in hard work and toil, ¹  through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. ² 

But as the man ¹  went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus ²  was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still ³  they kept coming ⁴  to him from everywhere.

The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. ¹  They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. ² 

One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; ¹  at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ²  until the remaining few are as isolated ³  as a flagpole on a mountaintop or a signal flag on a hill.”