They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors.<n id="1" /> Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor!<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">They panic &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">cramps and pain seize hold of themp> <p class="poetry">like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.p> <p class="poetry">They look at one another in astonishment;p> <p class="poetry">their faces are flushed red.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Be ashamed, O Sidon,p> <p class="poetry">for the sea<n id="1" /> says this, O fortress of the sea:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I have not gone into laborp> <p class="poetry">or given birth;p> <p class="poetry">I have not raised young menp> <p class="poetry">or brought up young women.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">We were pregnant, we strained,p> <p class="poetry">we gave birth, as it were, to wind.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;p> <p class="poetry">people to populate the world are not born.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!p> <p class="poetry">Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!p> <p class="poetry">For the children of the desolate one are more numerousp> <p class="poetry">than the children of the married woman,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I writhe in anguish.p> <p class="poetry">Oh, the pain in my heart!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">My heart pounds within me.p> <p class="poetry">I cannot keep silent.p> <p class="poetry">For I hear the sound of the trumpet;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul!<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry"><sc>Lordsc>, I know you look for faithfulness.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.p> <p class="poetry">They have become as hardheaded as a rock.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They refuse to change their ways.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">The earth will tremble and writhe in agony.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will carry out his plan.p> <p class="poetry">He plans to make the land of Babylonia<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">a wasteland where no one lives.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1493; (<i>Vavi>)p> <p class="poetry">The punishment<n id="1" /> of my people<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">exceeded that of<n id="3" /> of Sodom,p> <p class="poetry">which was overthrown in a momentp> <p class="poetry">with no one to help her.<n id="4" />p>

Ashkelon will see and be afraid; Gaza will be in great anguish, as will Ekron, for her hope will have been dried up.<n id="1" /> Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will no longer be inhabited.

and keep your eyes open.<n id="1" /> When you see<n id="2" /> the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration,<n id="3" /> jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin.

<p class="bodytext">The Benjaminites did as instructed.<n id="1" /> They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives.<n id="2" /> They went home<n id="3" /> to their own territory,<n id="4" /> rebuilt their cities, and settled down.<n id="5" />

May his blood whirl over<n id="1" /> the head of Joab and the entire house of his father!<n id="2" /> May the males of Joab&#8217;s house<n id="3" /> never cease to have<n id="4" /> someone with a running sore or a skin disease or one who works at the spindle<n id="5" /> or one who falls by the sword or one who lacks food!&#8221;p>

When Esther&#8217;s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai&#8217;s behavior,<n id="1" /> the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.

<p class="poetry">&#8220;You should fear me!&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You should tremble in awe before me!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,p> <p class="poetry">a permanent barrier that it can never cross.p> <p class="poetry">Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.p> <p class="poetry">They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Twist and strain,<n id="1" /> Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor!p> <p class="poetry">For you will leave the cityp> <p class="poetry">and live in the open field.p> <p class="poetry">You will go to Babylon,p> <p class="poetry">but there you will be rescued.p> <p class="poetry">There the <sc>Lordsc> will deliver<n id="2" /> youp> <p class="poetry">from the power<n id="3" /> of your enemies.p>