<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> decided not to do this.<n id="1" /> &#8220;It will not happen,&#8221; the <sc>Lordsc> said.p>

<p class="bodytext">The people regretted what had happened to<n id="1" /> Benjamin because the <sc>Lordsc> had weakened<n id="2" /> the Israelite tribes.

The king longed<n id="1" /> to go to Absalom, for he had since been consoled over the death of Amnon.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The sons of Hodiah&#8217;s wife, the sister of Naham:p> <p class="bodytext">the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.p>

<p class="poetry">In unison give a joyful shout,p> <p class="poetry">O ruins of Jerusalem!p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> consoles his people;p> <p class="poetry">he protects<n id="1" /> Jerusalem.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> decided not to do this.<n id="1" /> The sovereign <sc>Lordsc> said, &#8220;This will not happen either.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Certainly the <sc>Lordsc> will console Zion;p> <p class="poetry">he will console all her ruins.p> <p class="poetry">He will make her wilderness like Eden,p> <p class="poetry">her desert like the Garden of the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">Happiness and joy will be restored to<n id="1" /> her,p> <p class="poetry">thanksgiving and the sound of music.p>

<p class="poetry">Shout for joy, O sky!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Rejoice, O earth!p> <p class="poetry">Let the mountains give a joyful shout!p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> consoles his peoplep> <p class="poetry">and shows compassion to the<n id="2" /> oppressed.p>

<p class="poetry">May that man be like the cities<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that the <sc>Lordsc> destroyed without showing any mercy.p> <p class="poetry">May he hear a cry of distress in the morningp> <p class="poetry">and a battle cry at noon.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not!p> <p class="poetry">O Death, bring on your plagues!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">O Sheol, bring on your destruction!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">My eyes will not show any compassion!<n id="4" />p>

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">When Pharaoh released<n id="2" /> the people, God did not lead them<n id="3" /> by the way to the land<n id="4" /> of the Philistines,<n id="5" /> although<n id="6" /> that was nearby, for God said,<n id="7" /> &#8220;Lest<n id="8" /> the people change their minds<n id="9" /> and return to Egypt when they experience<n id="10" /> war.&#8221;

Until the day he<n id="1" /> died Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the <sc>Lordsc> regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.p>

<p class="poetry">I have listened to them very carefully,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they do not speak honestly.p> <p class="poetry">None of them regrets the evil he has done.p> <p class="poetry">None of them says, &#8220;I have done wrong!&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them persist in their own wayward course<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like a horse charging recklessly into battle.p>