Then Nehemiah the governor, ¹  Ezra the priestly scribe, ²  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ³  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

I stay awake; ¹  I am like a solitary bird on a roof.

Mourn over the field, ¹  over the delightful fields and the fruitful vine!

I can clothe the sky in darkness; I can cover it with sackcloth.”

Wail ¹  like a young virgin ²  clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of ³  her husband-to-be. ⁴ 

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

The earth ¹  dries up ²  and withers, the world shrivels up and withers; the prominent people of the earth ³  fade away.

For all of them will shave their heads in mourning. They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow. They will all make gashes in their hands. They will all put on sackcloth. ¹ 

Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ¹  shave your foreheads as bald ²  as an eagle, ³  for they are taken from you into exile.

by asking both the priests of the temple ¹  of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, ²  fasting as we have done over the years?”

Now they were all ¹  wailing and mourning ²  for her, but he said, “Stop your weeping; she is not dead but asleep.”

I tell you the solemn truth, ¹  you will weep ²  and wail, ³  but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, ⁴  but your sadness will turn into ⁵  joy.

Until the day he ¹  died Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Residents ¹  of Shaphir, ²  pass by in nakedness and humiliation! ³  The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. ⁴  Beth Ezel ⁵  mourns, ⁶  “He takes from you what he desires.” ⁷ 

You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ¹  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ² 

(Look! He is returning with the clouds, ¹  and every eye will see him, even ²  those who pierced him, ³  and all the tribes ⁴  on the earth will mourn because ⁵  of him. This will certainly come to pass! ⁶  Amen.) ⁷ 

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. ¹  Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, ²  for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” ³ 

Every year ¹  Israelite women commemorate ²  the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. ³ 

Those who survive him are buried by the plague, ¹  and their ²  widows do not mourn for them.

So put on sackcloth! Mourn and wail, saying, ‘The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us!’” ¹