<p class="poetry">The grass dries up,p> <p class="poetry">the flowers wither,p> <p class="poetry">when the wind sent by the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> blows on them.p> <p class="poetry">Surely humanity<n id="2" /> is like grass.p>

<p class="poetry">The grass dries up,p> <p class="poetry">the flowers wither,p> <p class="poetry">but the decree of our God is forever reliable.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like poplars beside channels of water.p>

<p class="poetry">Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;p> <p class="poetry">thickets and weeds will grow<n id="1" /> in her fortified cities.p> <p class="poetry">Jackals will settle there;p> <p class="poetry">ostriches will live there.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The dry soil will become a pool of water,p> <p class="poetry">the parched ground springs of water.p> <p class="poetry">Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,p> <p class="poetry">grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.p>

<p class="poetry">For the waters of Nimrim are gone;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the grass is dried up,p> <p class="poetry">the vegetation has disappeared,p> <p class="poetry">and there are no plants.p>

<p class="poetry">Their residents are powerless;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they are terrified and ashamed.p> <p class="poetry">They are as short-lived as plants in the fieldp> <p class="poetry">or green vegetation.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">when it is scorched by the east wind.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">A voice says, &#8220;Cry out!&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">Another asks,<n id="1" /> &#8220;What should I cry out?&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">The first voice responds:<n id="2" /> &#8220;All people are like grass,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and all their promises<n id="4" /> are like the flowers in the field.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I, I am the one who consoles you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Why are you afraid of mortal men,p> <p class="poetry">of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass?<n id="2" />p>