We all growl like bears, we coo mournfully like doves; we wait for deliverance, ¹  but there is none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

Their survivors will escape to the mountains and become like doves of the valleys; all of them will moan – each one for his iniquity.

Nineveh ¹  is taken into exile ²  and is led away; ³  her slave girls moan ⁴  like doves ⁵  while they beat ⁶  their breasts. ⁷ 

So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish.

During the evening, morning, and noontime I will lament and moan, ¹  and he will hear ²  me. ³ 

Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp, I coo ¹  like a dove; my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ²  O sovereign master, ³  I am oppressed; help me! ⁴ 

Pay attention to me and answer me! I am so upset ¹  and distressed, ²  I am beside myself, ³ 

I said, “I will remember God while I groan; I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” ¹  (Selah)

I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth ¹  before me.

So I will weep with sorrow for Moab. I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab. I will moan ¹  for the people of Kir Heres.

“And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart ¹  and bitterness; groan before their eyes.

ה (He) The Lord, ¹  like an enemy, destroyed ²  Israel. He destroyed ³  all her palaces; he ruined her ⁴  fortified cities. He made everyone in Daughter Judah mourn and lament. ⁵ 

I am exhausted as I groan; all night long I drench my bed in tears; ¹  my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. ² 

So Moab wails over its demise ¹  – they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. ² 

Listen to the cattle groan! ¹  The herds of livestock wander around in confusion ²  because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

For this reason I ¹  will mourn and wail; I will walk around barefoot ²  and without my outer garments. ³  I will howl ⁴  like a wild dog, ⁵  and screech ⁶  like an owl. ⁷ 

For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ¹  he did not overlook ²  their cry for help ³ 

The Lord pays attention to the godly and hears their cry for help. ¹ 

I am numb with pain and severely battered; ¹  I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel. ² 

So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, ¹  my inner being sighs ²  for Kir Hareseth. ³