For this is what the Lord has told me: “I will wait ¹  and watch from my place, like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, ²  like a cloud of mist ³  in the heat ⁴  of harvest.” ⁵ 

“Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! ¹  Let the nations find renewed strength! Let them approach and then speak; let us come together for debate! ² 

I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. ¹  I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. ² 

All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah. ¹  He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. ²  They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation. ³ 

ד (Dalet) The roads to Zion ¹  mourn ²  because no one ³  travels to the festivals. ⁴  All her city gates ⁵  are deserted; ⁶  her priests groan. ⁷  Her virgins grieve; ⁸  she is in bitter anguish! ⁹ 

I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, ¹  who lived by the Kebar River. ²  I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days. ³ 

Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply ¹  in Jerusalem. ²  They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror

Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent ¹  when I make atonement for all you have done, ²  declares the sovereign Lord.’”

“I destroyed ¹  nations; their walled cities ²  are in ruins. I turned their streets into ruins; no one passes through them. Their cities are desolate; ³  no one lives there. ⁴ 

But ¹  he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked ²  the winds and the sea, ³  and it was dead calm.

Demons also came out ¹  of many, crying out, ²  “You are the Son of God!” ³  But he rebuked ⁴  them, and would not allow them to speak, ⁵  because they knew that he was the Christ. ⁶ 

The Gazites were told, ¹  “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town ²  and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. ³  They relaxed ⁴  all night, thinking, ⁵  “He will not leave ⁶  until morning comes; ⁷  then we will kill him!”

They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ¹  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ² 

Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!” ¹  Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.

Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? ¹  If the Lord is the true God, ²  then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word.

א (Alef) ^{1  2} Alas! ³  The city once full of people ⁴  now sits all alone! ⁵  The prominent ⁶  lady among the nations has become a widow! ⁷  The princess ⁸  who once ruled the provinces ⁹  has become a forced laborer!

Now the hand of the Lord had been on me ¹  the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord ²  opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived ³  in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was no longer unable to speak. ⁴ 

When the sun began to shine, God sent ¹  a hot ²  east wind. So the sun beat down ³  on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, ⁴  and said, “I would rather die than live!” ⁵ 

And the sound of the harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you ¹  again. No ²  craftsman ³  who practices any trade will ever be found in you again; the noise of a mill ⁴  will never be heard in you again.

Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? ¹  Is my hand too weak ²  to deliver ³  you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout ⁴  I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water. ⁵