This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices<n id="1" /> to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made.<n id="2" /> My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!&#8217;&#8221;

Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive<n id="1" /> become queen in place of Vashti.&#8221; This seemed like a good idea to the king,<n id="2" /> so he acted accordingly.p>

<p class="poetry">I also could speak<n id="1" /> like you,p> <p class="poetry">if<n id="2" /> you were in my place;p> <p class="poetry">I could pile up<n id="3" /> words against youp> <p class="poetry">and I could shake my head at you.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">What exists now<n id="1" /> is what will be,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and what has been done is what will be done;p> <p class="poetry">there is nothing truly new on earth.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I concluded:<n id="3" /> &#8220;All these<n id="4" /> achievements and possessions<n id="5" /> are ultimately<n id="6" /> profitless<n id="7" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">like chasing the wind!p> <p class="poetry">There is nothing gained<n id="8" /> from them<n id="9" /> on earth.&#8221;<n id="10" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I loathed<n id="1" /> life<n id="2" /> because whatp> <p class="poetry">happens<n id="3" /> on earth<n id="4" /> seems awful to me;p> <p class="poetry">for all the benefits of wisdom<n id="5" /> are futile &#8211; like chasing the wind.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">So I loathed all the fruit of<n id="1" /> my effort,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">for which I worked so hard<n id="3" /> on earth,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because<n id="5" /> I must leave it<n id="6" /> behind<n id="7" /> in the hands of my successor.<n id="8" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?p> <p class="poetry">Yet<n id="1" /> he will be master over all the fruit of<n id="2" /> my labor<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for which I worked so wisely<n id="4" /> on earth!<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">This also is futile!p>

<p class="poetry">But better than both is the one who has not been born<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">What they loved,<n id="1" /> as well as what they hated<n id="2" /> and envied,<n id="3" /> perished long ago,p> <p class="poetry">and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Maidens about His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Who is this coming up from the desert,p> <p class="poetry">leaning on her beloved?p> <p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Under the apple tree I aroused you;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">there your mother conceived you,p> <p class="poetry">there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed, a man will grab his brotherp> <p class="poetry">right in his father&#8217;s house<n id="1" /> and say,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;You own a coat &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">you be our leader!p> <p class="poetry">This heap of ruins will be under your control.&#8217;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">For this reason<n id="1" /> the sovereign master, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated.<n id="2" /> His majestic glory will go up in smoke.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Sheol<n id="1" /> below is stirred up about you,p> <p class="poetry">ready to meet you when you arrive.p> <p class="poetry">It rouses<n id="2" /> the spirits of the dead for you,p> <p class="poetry">all the former leaders of the earth;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">it makes all the former kings of the nationsp> <p class="poetry">rise from their thrones.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s power will make this mountain secure.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Moab will be trampled down where it stands,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">as a heap of straw is trampled down in<n id="3" /> a manure pile.p>

<p class="poetry">For I am the <sc>Lordsc> your God,p> <p class="poetry">the Holy One of Israel,<n id="1" /> your deliverer.p> <p class="poetry">I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,p> <p class="poetry">Ethiopia and Seba<n id="2" /> in place of you.p>

<p class="poetry">They put it on their shoulder and carry it;p> <p class="poetry">they put it in its place and it just stands there;p> <p class="poetry">it does not<n id="1" /> move from its place.p> <p class="poetry">Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;p> <p class="poetry">it does not deliver him from his distress.p>

<p class="poetry">Instead of shame, you will get a double portion;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Yes,<n id="3" /> they will possess a double portion in their landp> <p class="poetry">and experience lasting joy.p>

<p class="poetry">Should good be paid back with evil?p> <p class="poetry">Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Just remember how I stood before youp> <p class="poetry">pleading on their behalf<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">to keep you from venting your anger on them.<n id="3" />p>

&#8220;Go and tell Hananiah that the <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;You have indeed broken the wooden yoke. But you have<n id="2" /> only succeeded in replacing it with an iron one!<n id="3" />