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

They are dark because of ice; snow is piled up over them.

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

I go about blackened, 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. I bowed down in sorrow as if I were mourning for my mother.

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

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

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

For you are the God who shelters me. Why do you reject me? Why must I walk around mourning 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. Cries of distress come up to me from Jerusalem.

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

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

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

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.

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; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day it went down to Sheol I caused observers to lament. 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.