ת (Tav) Let all their wickedness come before you; afflict ¹  them just as you have afflicted ²  me ³  because of all my acts of rebellion. ⁴  For my groans are many, and my heart is sick with sorrow. ⁵ 

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

“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 

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

ש (Sin/Shin) They have heard ¹  that I groan, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you ²  have brought it about. ³  Bring about ⁴  the day of judgment ⁵  that you promised ⁶  so that ⁷  they may end up ⁸  like me!

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

I said, “I will remember God while I groan; I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” ¹  (Selah)

When the righteous become numerous, ¹  the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. ² 

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.

Why should any living person ¹  complain when punished for his sins? ² 

You heard ¹  my plea: ²  “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!” ³ 

So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish.

ח (Khet) Jerusalem committed terrible sin; ¹  therefore she became an object of scorn. ²  All who admired ³  her have despised her ⁴  because they have seen her nakedness. ⁵  She groans aloud ⁶  and turns away in shame. ⁷ 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, ¹  but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

For we groan while we are in this tent, ¹  since we are weighed down, ²  because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ¹  Let them do this ²  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone ¹  will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ ²  Pay attention – it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord.”

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

So Moab wails over its demise ¹  – they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. ² 

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people ¹  who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved ²  in spirit and greatly distressed. ³