You should not have stood at the fork in the road ¹  to slaughter ²  those trying to escape. ³  You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. ⁴ 

and said, “I ¹  called out to the Lord from my distress, and he answered me; ²  from the belly of Sheol ³  I cried out for help, and you heard my prayer. ⁴ 

“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, ¹  and on the earth nations will be in distress, ²  anxious ³  over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves.

He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict ¹  you in your villages.

All those who were in trouble or owed someone money or were discontented ¹  gathered around ²  him, and he became their leader. He had about four hundred men with him.

and will secretly eat her afterbirth ¹  and her newborn children ²  (since she has nothing else), ³  because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.

In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, ¹  if you return to the Lord your God and obey him ² 

You will see trouble in my dwelling place! ¹  Israel will experience blessings, ²  but there will not be an old man in your ³  house for all time. ⁴ 

In his pain ¹  Manasseh ²  asked the Lord his God for mercy ³  and truly ⁴  humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. ⁵ 

As for me, I will sing about your strength; I will praise your loyal love in the morning. For you are my refuge ¹  and my place of shelter when I face trouble. ² 

In your distress you called out and I rescued you. I answered you from a dark thundercloud. ¹  I tested you at the waters of Meribah. ²  (Selah)

But as God’s servants, ¹  we have commended ourselves in every way, ²  with great endurance, in persecutions, ³  in difficulties, in distresses,

King Tiglath-pileser ¹  of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support. ² 

I was stone silent; ¹  I held back the urge to speak. ²  My frustration grew; ³ 

Jerusalem will bring me joy, and my people will bring me happiness. ¹  The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow will never be heard in her again.

They were distressed, and one by one said to him, “Surely not I?”

You will then eat your own offspring, ¹  the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege ²  by which your enemies will constrict you.

David was very upset, for the men ¹  were thinking of stoning him; ²  each man grieved bitterly ³  over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from the Lord his God.

David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ¹ 

When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior, ¹  the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.