Because of the anxiety that makes me groan, my bones protrude from my skin. ¹ 

God heard their groaning, ¹  God remembered ²  his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,

“Even today my complaint is still bitter; ¹  his ²  hand is heavy despite ³  my groaning.

When I refused to confess my sin, ¹  my whole body wasted away, ²  while I groaned in pain all day long.

I ¹  have also heard ²  the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, ³  and I have remembered my covenant. ⁴ 

‘You have said, “I feel so hopeless! ¹  For the Lord has added sorrow to my suffering. ²  I am worn out from groaning. I can’t find any rest.”’”

For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments; ²  a psalm of David. Listen to what I say, ³  Lord! Carefully consider my complaint! ⁴ 

in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners, and to set free those condemned to die, ¹ 

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.

I have certainly seen the suffering ¹  of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. ²  Now ³  come, I will send you to Egypt.’ ⁴ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ²  a psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ³  I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ⁴ 

I am exhausted as I groan; all night long I drench my bed in tears; ¹  my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. ² 

Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! ¹  Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! ² 

I have received a distressing message: ¹  “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears ¹  as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you.

O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; ¹  my groaning is not hidden from you.

When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people ¹  from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them ²  when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. ³ 

Jesus, intensely moved ¹  again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) ² 

“Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ¹  because of the painful cries ²  of the needy, I will spring into action,” ³  says the Lord. “I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ⁴ 

ה (He) The Lord, ¹  like an enemy, destroyed ²  Israel. He destroyed ³  all her palaces; he ruined her ⁴  fortified cities. He made everyone in Daughter Judah mourn and lament. ⁵