ר (Resh) Look, O Lord! I am distressed; ¹  my stomach is in knots! ²  My heart is pounding ³  inside me. Yes, I was terribly rebellious! ⁴  Out in the street the sword bereaves a mother of her children; ⁵  Inside the house death is present. ⁶ 

ת (Tav) Let all their wickedness come before you; afflict ¹  them just as you have afflicted ²  me ³  because of all my acts of rebellion. ⁴  For my groans are many, and my heart is sick with sorrow. ⁵ 

The people ¹  to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, ²  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ ³ 

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to the prophets who prophesy from their imagination: ¹  ‘Hear the word of the Lord!

This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

“Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity ¹  right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek ²  me?

Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ¹  Why should you die, O house of Israel?

I did this ¹  because they rejected my regulations, did not follow my statutes, and desecrated my Sabbaths; for their hearts followed their idols. ² 

So hearts melt with fear and many stumble. At all their gates I have stationed the sword for slaughter. Ah! It is made to flash, it is drawn for slaughter!

Can your heart endure, ¹  or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? ²  I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!

Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor. I threw you down to the ground; I placed you before kings, that they might see you.

But Daniel made up his mind ¹  that he would not defile ²  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ³  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

They approach him, all the while plotting against him. Their hearts are like an oven; their anger smolders all night long, but in the morning it bursts into a flaming fire.

They do not pray to me, ¹  but howl in distress on their beds; They slash themselves ²  for grain and new wine, but turn away from me.

How can I give you up, ¹  O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart! ²  All my tender compassions are aroused! ³ 

Destruction, devastation, and desolation! ¹  Their hearts faint, ²  their knees tremble, ³  each stomach churns, ⁴  each face ⁵  turns ⁶  pale! ⁷ 

And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ¹  and said ²  to himself, ³  “I will never again curse ⁴  the ground because of humankind, even though ⁵  the inclination of their minds ⁶  is evil from childhood on. ⁷  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

But the soldiers replied, ¹  “You should not do this! ²  For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be too concerned about us. ³  Even if half of us should die, they won’t be too concerned about us. But you ⁴  are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.”

“Before I finished praying in my heart, ¹  along came Rebekah ²  with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

So Esau hated ¹  Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. ²  Esau said privately, ³  “The time ⁴  of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill ⁵  my brother Jacob!”