“See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord, ¹  “and there is no other god besides me. I kill and give life, I smash and I heal, and none can resist ²  my power.

Therefore you are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you! There is no God besides you! What we have heard is true! ¹ 

So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

We did not change clothes ¹  – not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water. ² 

For the music director; by David. Fools say to themselves, ²  “There is no God.” ³  They sin and commit evil deeds; ⁴  none of them does what is right. ⁵ 

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 

Look to the right and see! No one cares about me. ¹  I have nowhere to run; ²  no one is concerned about my life. ³ 

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears. ¹ 

Their land is full of gold and silver; there is no end to their wealth. ¹  Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. ² 

At that time ¹  the brother will shout, ²  ‘I am no doctor, ³  I have no food or coat in my house; don’t make me a leader of the people!’”

None tire or stumble, they don’t stop to nap or sleep. They don’t loosen their belts, or unstrap their sandals to rest. ¹ 

I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,

But these people are looted and plundered; all of them are trapped in pits ¹  and held captive ²  in prisons. They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them; they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” ³ 

The godly ¹  perish, but no one cares. ²  Honest people disappear, ³  when no one ⁴  minds ⁵  that the godly ⁶  disappear ⁷  because of ⁸  evil. ⁹ 

No one is concerned about justice; ¹  no one sets forth his case truthfully. They depend on false words ²  and tell lies; they conceive of oppression ³  and give birth to sin.

He sees there is no advocate; ¹  he is shocked ²  that no one intervenes. So he takes matters into his own hands; ³  his desire for justice drives him on. ⁴ 

I will take away their harvests, ¹  says the Lord. There will be no grapes on their vines. There will be no figs on their fig trees. Even the leaves on their trees will wither. The crops that I gave them will be taken away.’” ² 

There is still medicinal ointment ¹  available in Gilead! There is still a physician there! ²  Why then have my dear people ³  not been restored to health? ⁴ 

But our tents have been destroyed. The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. ¹  Our children are gone and are not coming back. ²  There is no survivor to put our tents back up, no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.

I will vent my rage against the wall, and against those who coated it with whitewash. Then I will say to you, “The wall is no more and those who whitewashed it are no more –