Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from ¹  their adversaries.

hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders ¹  and enter into a curse and an oath ²  to adhere to ³  the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey ⁴  carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, ⁵  along with his ordinances and his statutes.

On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from ¹  the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah ²  took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering. ³ 

If the king is so inclined, ¹  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ²  that Vashti ³  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ⁴  who is more deserving than she. ⁵ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David. When I call out, answer me, O God who vindicates me! ²  Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ³  Have mercy on me ⁴  and respond to ⁵  my prayer!

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. ⁴  Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me! For in you I have taken shelter. ⁵  In the shadow of your wings ⁶  I take shelter until trouble passes.

Who has ascended into heaven, and then descended? ¹  Who has gathered up the winds in his fists? ²  Who has bound up the waters in his cloak? ³  Who has established all the ends of the earth? ⁴  What is his name, and what is his son’s name? ⁵  – if you know!

Draw me ¹  after you; let us hurry! ²  May the king ³  bring ⁴  me into his ⁵  bedroom chambers! ⁶  The Maidens ⁷  to the Lover: We will ⁸  rejoice and delight in you; ⁹  we will praise your love more than wine. The Beloved to Her Lover: How rightly the young women adore you!

The Lord will divide ¹  the gulf ²  of the Egyptian Sea; ³  he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ⁴  and send a strong wind, ⁵  he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ⁶  and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

“I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals ¹  and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,” ²  says the Lord who commands armies.

“At that time,” ¹  says the Lord who commands armies, “the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off.” ²  Indeed, ³  the Lord has spoken.

The one who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit; ¹  the one who climbs out of the pit, will be trapped by the snare. For the floodgates of the heavens ²  are opened up ³  and the foundations of the earth shake.

My dwelling place ¹  is removed and taken away ²  from me like a shepherd’s tent. I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; ³  from the loom he cuts me off. ⁴  You turn day into night and end my life. ⁵ 

I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ¹  I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ²  I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. ³  This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.

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 

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country ¹  be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

For this is what the Lord says: “Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river, the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. ¹  You will nurse from her breast ²  and be carried at her side; you will play on her knees.

The Lord also spoke to him when Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year ¹  that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem ²  were taken into exile. ³ 

Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses. Lined up in formation like men going into battle to attack you, Daughter Zion.’” ¹ 

I have listened to them very carefully, ¹  but they do not speak honestly. None of them regrets the evil he has done. None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ²  All of them persist in their own wayward course ³  like a horse charging recklessly into battle.