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 

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?

How miserable I am! ¹  For I have lived temporarily ²  in Meshech; I have resided among the tents of Kedar. ³ 

The Beloved to the Maidens: I am dark but lovely, O maidens ¹  of Jerusalem, dark ²  like the tents of Qedar, ³  lovely ⁴  like the tent curtains ⁵  of Salmah. ⁶ 

Just a handful of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be left.” ¹  Indeed, ²  the Lord God of Israel has spoken.

Let the desert and its cities shout out, the towns where the nomads of Kedar live! Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully; let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.

Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your trade partners; for lambs, rams, and goats they traded with you.

For this is what the sovereign master ¹  has told me: “Within exactly one year ²  all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end.

All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ¹  They will go up on my altar acceptably, ²  and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

The Lord spoke about Kedar ¹  and the kingdoms of Hazor ²  that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered. “Army of Babylon, ³  go and attack Kedar. Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert. ⁴