She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’”

“It is all one! That is why I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’

I call to you for you will answer me, O God. Listen to me! Hear what I say!

I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me.

Then I say, “Look! I come! What is written in the scroll pertains to me.

As for me, I said: “O Lord, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

I say to the proud, “Do not be proud,” and to the wicked, “Do not be so confident of victory!

For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”

I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy!

I cry out to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my shelter, my security in the land of the living.”

I have examined all this by wisdom; I said, “I am determined to comprehend this” – but it was beyond my grasp.

You complacent women, get up and listen to me! You carefree daughters, pay attention to what I say!

“I thought, ‘In the middle of my life I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived of the rest of my years.’

And I cried out, “We are doomed! Our wound is severe! We once thought, ‘This is only an illness. And we will be able to bear it!’

I thought I had been banished from your sight, that I would never again see your holy temple!

Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah! Listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me.

Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’

“I left secretly because I was afraid!” Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force.

Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!”

“Pay attention to do everything I have told you, and do not even mention the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips.