<p class="poetry">Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?p> <p class="poetry">Who announced it<n id="1" /> ahead of time, so we could say, &#8216;He&#8217;s correct&#8217;?p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, none of them decreed it!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, none of them announced it!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, no one heard you say anything!p>

<p class="poetry">There will be no prosperity for the wicked,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">There will be no prosperity,&#8221; says my God, &#8220;for the wicked.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">He sees there is no advocate;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he is shocked<n id="2" /> that no one intervenes.p> <p class="poetry">So he takes matters into his own hands;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">his desire for justice drives him on.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;p> <p class="poetry">there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither,p> <p class="poetry">like an orchard<n id="1" /> that is unwatered.p>

Then you must recall the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen.<n id="1" /> Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">I am not angry.p> <p class="poetry">I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!p> <p class="poetry">Then I would march against them<n id="1" /> for battle;p> <p class="poetry">I would set them<n id="2" /> all on fire,p>

<p class="poetry">I am the <sc>Lordsc>, I have no peer,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">there is no God but me.p> <p class="poetry">I arm you for battle,<n id="2" /> even though you do not recognize<n id="3" /> me.p>

<p class="poetry">They will disappoint you,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Each strays off in his own direction,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">leaving no one to rescue you.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">There was no one to lead herp> <p class="poetry">among all the children she bore;p> <p class="poetry">there was no one to take her by the handp> <p class="poetry">among all the children she raised.p>

<p class="poetry">From the soles of your feet to your head,p> <p class="poetry">there is no spot that is unharmed.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">There are only bruises, cuts,p> <p class="poetry">and open wounds.p> <p class="poetry">They have not been cleansed<n id="2" /> or bandaged,p> <p class="poetry">nor have they been treated<n id="3" /> with olive oil.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">At that time<n id="1" /> the brother will shout,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I am no doctor,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I have no food or coat in my house;p> <p class="poetry">don&#8217;t make me a leader of the people!&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">None tire or stumble,p> <p class="poetry">they don&#8217;t stop to nap or sleep.p> <p class="poetry">They don&#8217;t loosen their belts,p> <p class="poetry">or unstrap their sandals to rest.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will no longer see a defiant<n id="1" /> peoplep> <p class="poetry">whose language you do not comprehend,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">whose derisive speech you do not understand.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Night and day it will burn;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">its smoke will ascend continually.p> <p class="poetry">Generation after generation it will be a wastelandp> <p class="poetry">and no one will ever pass through it again.p>

<p class="poetry">Do you not know?p> <p class="poetry">Have you not heard?p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is an eternal God,p> <p class="poetry">the creator of the whole earth.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He does not get tired or weary;p> <p class="poetry">there is no limit to his wisdom.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc>, Israel&#8217;s king, says,p> <p class="poetry">their protector,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the first and I am the last,p> <p class="poetry">there is no God but me.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">One who argues with his creator is in grave danger,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">one who is like a mere<n id="2" /> shard among the other shards on the ground!p> <p class="poetry">The clay should not say to the potter,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;What in the world<n id="4" /> are you doing?p> <p class="poetry">Your work lacks skill!&#8221;<n id="5" />p>