he sets ¹  the lowly ²  on high, that those who mourn ³  are raised ⁴  to safety.

They ¹  are dark ²  because of ice; snow is piled ³  up over them. ⁴ 

The sun and moon are darkened; the stars withhold ¹  their brightness.

I go about blackened, ¹  but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

I mourned for them as I would for a friend or my brother. ¹  I bowed down ²  in sorrow as if I were mourning for my mother. ³ 

My heart is crushed because my dear people ¹  are being crushed. ²  I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay. ³ 

I am dazed ¹  and completely humiliated; ²  all day long I walk around mourning.

I will pray ¹  to God, my high ridge: ²  “Why do you ignore ³  me? Why must I walk around mourning ⁴  because my enemies oppress me?”

For you are the God who shelters me. ¹  Why do you reject me? ²  Why must I walk around ³  mourning ⁴  because my enemies oppress me?

“The people of Judah are in mourning. The people in her cities are pining away. They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow. ¹  Cries of distress come up to me ²  from Jerusalem. ³ 

The earth quakes ¹  before them; ²  the sky reverberates. ³  The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. ⁴ 

Meanwhile the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind blew, and there was a heavy rainstorm. Ahab rode toward ¹  Jezreel.

Because of this the land will mourn and the sky above will grow black. ¹  For I have made my purpose known ²  and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.” ³ 

When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky; I will darken its stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not shine. ¹ 

I will darken all the lights in the sky over you, and I will darken your land, declares the sovereign Lord.

Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; ¹  it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. ²  The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. ³ 

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day it ¹  went down to Sheol I caused observers to lament. ²  I covered it with the deep and held back its rivers; its plentiful water was restrained. I clothed Lebanon in black for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it.