whose ¹  trust ²  is in something futile, ³  whose security is a spider’s web. ⁴ 

The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon, ¹  like a hut ²  that a watchman has made.

Your maxims ¹  are proverbs of ashes; ²  your defenses ³  are defenses of clay. ⁴ 

In that the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, the latter stages of this kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile.

how much more to those who live in houses of clay, ¹  whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed ²  like ³  a moth?

Do you fix your eye ¹  on such a one? ²  And do you bring me ³  before you for judgment?

A voice says, “Cry out!” Another asks, ¹  “What should I cry out?” The first voice responds: ²  “All people are like grass, ³  and all their promises ⁴  are like the flowers in the field.

Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹  men of ²  Israel. I am helping you,” says the Lord, your protector, ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord because they were a reed staff ¹  for the house of Israel;

he ¹  will rule ²  them with an iron rod ³  and like clay jars he will break them to pieces, ⁴ 

Their residents are powerless, ¹  they are terrified and ashamed. They are as short-lived as plants in the field, or green vegetation. ²  They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops ³  when it is scorched by the east wind. ⁴ 

and they are afraid of heights and the dangers ¹  in the street; the almond blossoms ²  grow white, ³  and the grasshopper ⁴  drags itself along, ⁵  and the caper berry ⁶  shrivels up ⁷  – because man goes to his eternal home, ⁸  and the mourners go about in the streets –

Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers! Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! ¹  The time for you to be slaughtered has come. You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery. ² 

I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field; you grew tall and came of age so that you could wear jewelry. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.