<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Lover to His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Oh,<n id="2" /> you are beautiful, my darling!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Oh, you are beautiful!p> <p class="poetry">Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Your hair is like a flock of female goatsp> <p class="poetry">descending<n id="5" /> from Mount Gilead.p>

<p class="poetry">For the fortress is neglected;p> <p class="poetry">the once-crowded<n id="1" /> city is abandoned.p> <p class="poetry">Hill<n id="2" /> and watchtowerp> <p class="poetry">are permanently uninhabited.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Wild donkeys love to go there,p> <p class="poetry">and flocks graze there.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">But if you will not pay attention to this warning,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.p> <p class="poetry">I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because you, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s flock,<n id="3" /> will be carried<n id="4" /> into exile.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Hear what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say, O nations.p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.p> <p class="poetry">Say, &#8220;The one who scattered Israel will regather them.p> <p class="poetry">He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will bring them together like sheep in a fold,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">like a flock in the middle of a pasture;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">As for you, watchtower for the flock,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">fortress of Daughter Zion<n id="2" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">your former dominion will be restored,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.p>

When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds<n id="1" /> would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well&#8217;s mouth.p>

Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face<n id="1" /> the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban&#8217;s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban&#8217;s flocks.

<p class="bodytext">He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, &#8220;You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.<n id="1" />

As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations,p> <p class="poetry">in the midst of many peoples.p> <p class="poetry">They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,p> <p class="poetry">like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,p> <p class="poetry">which attacks when it passes through;p> <p class="poetry">it rips its prey<n id="1" /> and there is no one to stop it.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Flocks and herds<n id="1" /> will lie down in the middle of it,p> <p class="poetry">as well as every kind of wild animal.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Owls<n id="3" /> will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;p> <p class="poetry">they will hoot through the windows.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Rubble will cover the thresholds;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">even the cedar work<n id="6" /> will be exposed to the elements.<n id="7" />p>

I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats.p> <p class="bodytext">For the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse.

&#8220;There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all, &#8220;and my name is awesome among the nations.&#8221;p>