<p class="poetry">I can clothe the sky in darkness;p> <p class="poetry">I can cover it with sackcloth.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">All the stars in the sky will fade away,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the sky will roll up like a scroll;p> <p class="poetry">all its stars will wither,p> <p class="poetry">like a leaf withers and falls from a vinep> <p class="poetry">or a fig withers and falls from a tree.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry"><v id="(63:19b)" /><n id="1" /> If only you would tear apart the sky<n id="2" /> and come down!p> <p class="poetry">The mountains would tremble<n id="3" /> before you!p>

<p class="poetry">They come from a distant land,p> <p class="poetry">from the horizon.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">It is the <sc>Lordsc> with his instruments of judgment,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">coming to destroy the whole earth.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look how you have fallen from the sky,p> <p class="poetry">O shining one, son of the dawn!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You have been cut down to the ground,p> <p class="poetry">O conqueror<n id="2" /> of the nations!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">He says,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Look, it now descends on Edom,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">on the people I will annihilate in judgment.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">He is the one who sits on the earth&#8217;s horizon;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and spreads it out<n id="4" /> like a pitched tent.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Yes, my hand founded the earth;p> <p class="poetry">my right hand spread out the sky.p> <p class="poetry">I summon them;p> <p class="poetry">they stand together.p>

<p class="poetry">for just as the sky<n id="1" /> is higher than the earth,p> <p class="poetry">so my deeds<n id="2" /> are superior to<n id="3" /> your deedsp> <p class="poetry">and my plans<n id="4" /> superior to your plans.p>

<p class="poetry">Look up at the sky!p> <p class="poetry">Look at the earth below!p> <p class="poetry">For the sky will dissipate<n id="1" /> like smoke,p> <p class="poetry">and the earth will wear out like clothes;p> <p class="poetry">its residents will die like gnats.p> <p class="poetry">But the deliverance I give<n id="2" /> is permanent;p> <p class="poetry">the vindication I provide<n id="3" /> will not disappear.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen, O heavens,p> <p class="poetry">pay attention, O earth!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> speaks:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I raised children,<n id="2" /> I brought them up,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">but<n id="4" /> they have rebelled<n id="5" /> against me!p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellationsp> <p class="poetry">no longer give out their light;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,p> <p class="poetry">and the moon does not shine.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I will shake the heavens,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and the earth will shake loose from its foundation,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because of the fury of the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies,p> <p class="poetry">in the day he vents his raging anger.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">You said to yourself,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will climb up to the sky.p> <p class="poetry">Above the stars of El<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will set up my throne.p> <p class="poetry">I will rule on the mountain of assemblyp> <p class="poetry">on the remote slopes of Zaphon.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Who has measured out the waters<n id="1" /> in the hollow of his hand,p> <p class="poetry">or carefully<n id="2" /> measured the sky,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">or carefully weighed<n id="4" /> the soil of the earth,p> <p class="poetry">or weighed the mountains in a balance,p> <p class="poetry">or the hills on scales?<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the true God,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, says &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the one who created the sky and stretched it out,p> <p class="poetry">the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who gives breath to the people on it,p> <p class="poetry">and life to those who live on it:<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc>, your protector,<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed you in the womb:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the <sc>Lordsc>, who made everything,p> <p class="poetry">who alone stretched out the sky,p> <p class="poetry">who fashioned the earth all by myself,<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">O sky, rain down from above!p> <p class="poetry">Let the clouds send down showers<n id="1" /> of deliverance!p> <p class="poetry">Let the earth absorb it<n id="2" /> so salvation may grow,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and deliverance may sprout up<n id="4" /> along with it.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, create it.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I made the earth,p> <p class="poetry">I created the people who live<n id="1" /> on it.p> <p class="poetry">It was me &#8211; my hands<n id="2" /> stretched out the sky,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I give orders to all the heavenly lights.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">You are tired out from listening to so much advice.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them take their stand &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the ones who see omens in the sky,p> <p class="poetry">who gaze at the stars,p> <p class="poetry">who make monthly predictions &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you!<n id="2" />p>