<p class="poetry">If only<n id="1" /> you would kill the wicked, O God!p> <p class="poetry">Get away from me, you violent men!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">If someone wishes<n id="1" /> to contend<n id="2" /> with him,p> <p class="poetry">he cannot answer<n id="3" /> him one time in a thousand.p>

<p class="poetry">He does not expect<n id="1" /> to escape from darkness;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he is marked for the sword;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">He will not escape the darkness;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">a flame will wither his shootsp> <p class="poetry">and he will departp> <p class="poetry">by the breath of God&#8217;s mouth.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;But<n id="1" /> if I speak, my pain is not relieved,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and if I refrain from speakingp> <p class="poetry">&#8211; how<n id="3" /> much of it goes away?p>

<p class="poetry">His memory perishes from the earth,p> <p class="poetry">he has no name in the land.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Far from where people live<n id="1" /> he sinks a shaft,p> <p class="poetry">in places travelers have long forgotten,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">far from other people he dangles and sways.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">If my footsteps have strayed from the way,p> <p class="poetry">if my heart has gone after my eyes,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">or if anything<n id="2" /> has defiled my hands,p>

<p class="poetry">If there is an angel beside him,p> <p class="poetry">one mediator<n id="1" /> out of a thousand,p> <p class="poetry">to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For I am aware of all his regulations,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and I do not reject his rules.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">We have not been unfaithful,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">nor have we disobeyed your commands.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">All your garments are perfumed with<n id="1" /> myrrh, aloes, and cassia.p> <p class="poetry">From the luxurious palaces<n id="2" /> comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They come with red cloth<n id="1" /> from Egypt,p> <p class="poetry">Ethiopia<n id="2" /> voluntarily offers tribute<n id="3" /> to God.p>

<p class="poetry">Rise up, O God! Defend your honor!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Remember how fools insult you all day long!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They did not remember what he had done,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">how he delivered them from the enemy,<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">My eyes grow weak because of oppression.p> <p class="poetry">I call out to you, O <sc>Lordsc>, all day long;p> <p class="poetry">I spread out my hands in prayer to you.<n id="1" />p>

Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct.<n id="1" />

I have now issued a decree<n id="1" /> that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel &#8211; even the priests and Levites &#8211; who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">So I say:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Don&#8217;t look at me!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I am weeping bitterly.p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t try<n id="2" /> to console mep> <p class="poetry">concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;The rebellious<n id="1" /> children are as good as dead,&#8221;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;those who make plans without consulting me,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">who form alliances without consulting my Spirit,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and thereby compound their sin.<n id="5" />p>