when you deliver ¹  my life from death. You keep my feet from stumbling, ²  so that I might serve ³  God as I enjoy life. ⁴ 

From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. ¹  There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed ²  or bandaged, nor have they been treated ³  with olive oil. ⁴ 

The Lord says, “The women ¹  of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high ²  and flirt with their eyes. They skip along ³  and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ⁴ 

Seraphs ¹  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ²  and they used the remaining two to fly.

At that time ¹  the sovereign master will use a razor hired from the banks of the Euphrates River, ²  the king of Assyria, to shave the head and the pubic hair; ³  it will also shave off the beard.

Who stirs up this one from the east? ¹  Who ²  officially commissions him for service? ³  He hands nations over to him, ⁴  and enables him to subdue ⁵  kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, like windblown straw with his bow. ⁶ 

How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ¹  the feet of a messenger who announces peace, a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ² 

They are eager to do evil, ¹  quick to shed innocent blood. ²  Their thoughts are sinful; they crush and destroy. ³ 

The splendor of Lebanon will come to you, its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together, to beautify my palace; ¹  I will bestow honor on my throne room. ² 

The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you; all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet. They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ¹ 

This is what the Lord says: “The heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is the house you will build for me? Where is the place where I will rest?

Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out and your throats become dry. ¹  But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me because I love those foreign gods ²  and want to pursue them!’

Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. ¹  Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. ²  Do it before you stumble ³  into distress like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. ⁴  Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for into the darkness and gloom of exile. ⁵ 

Let cries of terror be heard in their houses when you send bands of raiders unexpectedly to plunder them. ¹  For they have virtually dug a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for me to step into.

מ (Mem) He sent down fire ¹  into my bones, and it overcame ²  them. He spread out a trapper’s net ³  for my feet; he made me turn back. He has made me desolate; I am faint all day long.

א (Alef) Alas! ¹  The Lord ²  has covered Daughter Zion ³  with his anger. ⁴  He has thrown down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; he did not protect ⁵  his temple ⁶  when he displayed his anger. ⁷ 

As he spoke to me, ¹  a wind ²  came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.

Then a wind ¹  came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord ²  spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house.

At the head of every street you erected your pavilion and you disgraced ¹  your beauty when you spread ²  your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity.

Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot ¹  for your iniquities ²  and groan among yourselves.