They shed innocent blood – the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted by bloodshed. ¹ 

The leech ¹  has two daughters: ²  “Give! Give!” ³  There are three things that are never satisfied, four ⁴  that never say, “Enough” ⁵  –

Daughter Zion ¹  is left isolated, like a hut in a vineyard, or a shelter in a cucumber field; she is a besieged city. ² 

Shout out, daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth! ¹ 

This very day, standing in Nob, they shake their fist at Daughter Zion’s mountain ¹  – at the hill of Jerusalem.

He said, “You will no longer celebrate, oppressed ¹  virgin daughter Sidon! Get up, travel to Cyprus, but you will find no relief there.” ² 

From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away ¹  all that our ancestors ²  worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.

How long will you vacillate, ¹  you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? ²  For I, the Lord, promise ³  to bring about something new ⁴  on the earth, something as unique as a woman protecting a man!’” ⁵ 

Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, ¹  you dear poor people of Egypt. ²  But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; ³  there will be no healing for you.

ו (Vav) All of Daughter Zion’s ¹  splendor ²  has departed. ³  Her leaders became like deer; they found no pasture, so they were too exhausted to escape ⁴  from the hunter. ⁵ 

י (Yod) The elders of Daughter Zion sit ¹  on the ground in silence. ²  They have thrown dirt on their heads; They have dressed in sackcloth. ³  Jerusalem’s young women ⁴  stare down at the ground. ⁵ 

Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters – they would save only their own lives.

“‘See here – this was the iniquity ¹  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ²  the poor and needy.

That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses. ¹ 

“Son of man, wail ¹  over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; ²  bring ³  her ⁴  and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the pit.

“‘They must not come near a dead person or they will be defiled; ¹  however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister, they may defile themselves.

I will sell your sons and daughters to ¹  the people of Judah. ²  They will sell them to the Sabeans, ³  a nation far away. Indeed, the Lord has spoken!

Residents of Lachish, ¹  hitch the horses to the chariots! You ²  influenced Daughter Zion ³  to sin, ⁴  for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back ⁵  to you!

But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, “Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” ¹  And the woman was healed ²  from that hour.

Instead, a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit ¹  immediately heard about him and came and fell at his feet.