A psalm of David. O Lord, I cry out to you. Come quickly to me! Pay attention to me when I cry out to you!

“The people of Judah are in mourning. The people in her cities are pining away. They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow. ¹  Cries of distress come up to me ²  from Jerusalem. ³ 

They will lament loudly ¹  over you and cry bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes; ² 

Won’t ¹  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ²  to him day and night? ³  Will he delay ⁴  long to help them?

O Lord, hear my prayer! Pay attention to my plea for mercy!

Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim, ‘Oh, the ruin and great destruction!’

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried out to my God. ¹  From his heavenly temple ²  he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. ³ 

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹ 

He will call out to me, ‘You are my father, ¹  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ² 

indeed, if ¹  you call out for ²  discernment ³  – raise your voice ⁴  for understanding –

a day of trumpet blasts ¹  and battle cries. ²  Judgment will fall on ³  the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, ¹  nor ever will be again. ² 

The people ¹  who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.

Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory; their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim. ¹ 

Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders. Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks. They are wailing because the Lord is about to destroy their lands. ¹ 

They will answer, ‘Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen! Wail and cry out in mourning! Announce along the Arnon River that Moab has been destroyed.’

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.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, ¹  but you received the Spirit of adoption, ²  by whom ³  we cry, “Abba, Father.”

In my distress I called to the Lord; I called to my God. ¹  From his heavenly temple ²  he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. ³ 

In fact, ¹  I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby. It is the cry of Daughter Zion ²  gasping for breath, reaching out for help, ³  saying, “I am done in! ⁴  My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”