<p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t spread the news in Gath!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t shed even a single tear!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust!<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;Do not weep for the king who was killed.p> <p class="poetry">Do not grieve for him.p> <p class="poetry">But weep mournfully for the king who has gone into exile.p> <p class="poetry">For he will never return to see his native land again.<n id="1" />p>

Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot<n id="1" /> for your iniquities<n id="2" /> and groan among yourselves.

<p class="bodytext">Then Nehemiah the governor,<n id="1" /> Ezra the priestly scribe,<n id="2" /> and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them,<n id="3" /> &#8220;This day is holy to the <sc>LORDsc> your God. Do not mourn or weep.&#8221; For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.