Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible ¹  goodness that you had lavished ²  on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set ³  before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

Then I directed the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. For this please remember me, O my God, and have pity on me in keeping with your great love.

And this very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard the matter concerning the queen will respond in the same way to all the royal officials, and there will be more than enough contempt and anger!

For the music director; according to the machalath style; ²  a well-written song ³  by David. Fools say to themselves, ⁴  “There is no God.” ⁵  They sin and commit evil deeds; ⁶  none of them does what is right. ⁷ 

During the days of my fleeting life ¹  I have seen both ²  of these things: Sometimes ³  a righteous person dies prematurely ⁴  in spite of ⁵  his righteousness, and sometimes ⁶  a wicked person lives long ⁷  in spite of his evil deeds.

¹ The sinful nation is as good as dead, ²  the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children ³  who do wicked things. They have abandoned the Lord, and rejected the Holy One of Israel. ⁴  They are alienated from him. ⁵ 

But when ¹  the sovereign master ²  finishes judging ³  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ⁴  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ⁵ 

You did not buy me aromatic reeds; ¹  you did not present to me ²  the fat of your sacrifices. Yet you burdened me with your sins; you made me weary with your evil deeds. ³ 

I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. ¹  I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ ²  I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. ³ 

He was wounded because of ¹  our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; ²  because of his wounds we have been healed. ³ 

The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹  and sinful people their plans. ²  They should return ³  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ⁴  and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ⁵ 

Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal ¹  and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion! ² 

As a well continually pours out fresh water so it continually pours out wicked deeds. ¹  Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. ²  All I see are sick and wounded people.’ ³ 

They have also built places of worship ¹  in a place called Topheth ²  in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing! ³ 

Before I restore them ¹  I will punish them in full ²  for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own ³  with their detestable idols.” ⁴ 

They have built places here ¹  for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices ²  are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

The Lord says, “Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those ¹  who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. ²  Do not kill innocent people ³  in this land.

This will happen because the people of Israel and Judah have repeatedly done what displeases me ¹  from their earliest history until now ²  and because they ³  have repeatedly made me angry by the things they have done. ⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵ 

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 

Have you not copied their behavior ¹  and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time ²  you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were!