The Beloved to Her Lover: Oh, how I wish you were ¹  my little brother, ²  nursing at my mother’s breasts; if I saw ³  you outside, I could kiss you – surely ⁴  no one would despise me! ⁵ 

So Death ¹  will open up its throat, and open wide its mouth; ²  Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it, including those who revel and celebrate within her. ³ 

For their oppressive yoke and the club that strikes their shoulders, the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ¹  you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ² 

The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them. ¹ 

It shatters in pieces like a clay jar, so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ¹  Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ²  to scoop a hot coal from a fire ³  or to skim off water from a cistern.” ⁴ 

Who has measured out the waters ¹  in the hollow of his hand, or carefully ²  measured the sky, ³  or carefully weighed ⁴  the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales? ⁵ 

All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.

Look all around you! ¹  They all gather and come to you – your sons come from far away and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

¹ So I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.

So the Lord who rules over all ¹  said, “I will surely ²  punish them! Their young men will be killed in battle. ³  Their sons and daughters will die of starvation.

I said, ¹  “Lord, you know how I suffer. ²  Take thought of me and care for me. Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me. Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me. Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.

The Lord says, “I will restore the ruined houses of the descendants of Jacob. I will show compassion on their ruined homes. ¹  Every city will be rebuilt on its former ruins. ²  Every fortified dwelling will occupy its traditional site. ³ 

“You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ¹  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ²  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ³ 

Each of the pillars was about 27 feet ¹  high, about 18 feet ²  in circumference, three inches ³  thick, and hollow.

ה (He) Her foes subjugated her; ¹  her enemies are at ease. ²  For the Lord afflicted her because of her many acts of rebellion. ³  Her children went away captive ⁴  before the enemy.

Soon now I will pour out my rage ¹  on you; I will fully vent my anger against you. I will judge you according to your behavior. I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices.

“‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ¹  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough,

There were three alcoves on each side of the east gate; the three had the same measurement, and the jambs on either side had the same measurement. ¹ 

He measured the gateway from the roof of one alcove to the roof of the other, a width of 43¾ feet ¹  from one entrance to the opposite one.

There were closed windows toward the alcoves and toward their jambs within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. There were windows all around the inside, and on each jamb were decorative palm trees. ¹