Yes, ¹  we are consumed by your anger; we are terrified by your wrath.

For he knows what we are made of; ¹  he realizes ²  we are made of clay. ³ 

Look, we heard about it ¹  in Ephrathah, ²  we found it in the territory of Jaar. ³ 

By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep ²  when we remember Zion.

We will seize ¹  all kinds ²  of precious wealth; we will fill our houses with plunder. ³ 

Join with us! ¹  We will all share ²  equally in what we steal.” ³ 

We are pursued – they are breathing down our necks; ¹  we are weary and have no rest. ² 

We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord; we turned back from following our God. We stir up ¹  oppression and rebellion; we tell lies we concocted in our minds. ² 

But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die!

“(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled.

Do not let them say to themselves, ¹  “Aha! We have what we wanted!” ²  Do not let them say, “We have devoured him!”

We all growl like bears, we coo mournfully like doves; we wait for deliverance, ¹  but there is none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it. We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror. ¹ 

And I cried out, ¹  “We are doomed! ²  Our wound is severe! We once thought, ‘This is only an illness. And we will be able to bear it!’ ³ 

we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards.

But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ¹  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ² 

Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ¹  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

So we settled down in the valley opposite Beth Peor. ¹ 

Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless against this huge army that attacks us! We don’t know what we should do; we look to you for help.” ¹ 

They will fall down, ¹  but we ²  will stand firm. ³