I will speak, so that I may find relief; I will open my lips, so that I may answer.

Then would I speak and not fear him, but it is not so with me.

For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors I will say, “May there be peace in you!”

“Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

“I am weary of my life; I will complain without restraint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

“But if I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I refrain from speaking – how much of it goes away?

I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could pile up words against you and I could shake my head at you.

I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant asks.

I answered, “Who would listen if I spoke to them and warned them? Their ears are so closed that they cannot hear! Indeed, what the Lord says is offensive to them. They do not like it at all.