<p class="poetry">I will listen to what God the <sc>Lordsc> says.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For he will make<n id="2" /> peace with his people, his faithful followers.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet they must not<n id="4" /> return to their foolish ways.p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the <sc>Lord.sc>p> <p class="poetry">O <sc>Lordsc>, hear my prayer!p> <p class="poetry">Pay attention to my cry for help!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">May I hear about your loyal love in the morning,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for I trust in you.p> <p class="poetry">Show me the way I should go,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because I long for you.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">All this<n id="1" /> monotony<n id="2" /> is tiresome; no one can bear<n id="3" /> to describe it:<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content<n id="5" /> with hearing.p>

<p class="poetry">Also, do not pay attention to everything that people<n id="1" /> say;p> <p class="poetry">otherwise,<n id="2" /> you might even hear<n id="3" /> your servant cursing you.p>

<p class="poetry">Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Fear God and keep his commandments,p> <p class="poetry">because this is the whole duty<n id="2" /> of man.p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Lover to His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">O my dove,<n id="1" /> in the clefts of the rock,p> <p class="poetry">in the hiding places of the mountain crags,p> <p class="poetry">let me see your face,p> <p class="poetry">let me hear your voice;p> <p class="poetry">for your voice is sweet,p> <p class="poetry">and your face is lovely.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen, O heavens,p> <p class="poetry">pay attention, O earth!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> speaks:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I raised children,<n id="2" /> I brought them up,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">but<n id="4" /> they have rebelled<n id="5" /> against me!p>

<p class="poetry">When you spread out your hands in prayer,p> <p class="poetry">I look the other way;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when you offer your many prayers,p> <p class="poetry">I do not listen,p> <p class="poetry">because your hands are covered with blood.<n id="2" />p>

I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, &#8220;Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?&#8221;<n id="1" /> I answered, &#8220;Here I am, send me!&#8221;

<p class="poetry">Make the hearts of these people calloused;p> <p class="poetry">make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!p> <p class="poetry">Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,p> <p class="poetry">their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

So Isaiah replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Pay attention,<n id="2" /> family<n id="3" /> of David.<n id="4" /> Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God?

<p class="poetry">They will swoop down<n id="1" /> on the Philistine hills to the west;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">together they will loot the people of the east.p> <p class="poetry">They will take over Edom and Moab,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and the Ammonites will be their subjects.p>

<p class="poetry">The people of<n id="1" /> Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,p> <p class="poetry">their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.p> <p class="poetry">For this reason Moab&#8217;s soldiers shout in distress;p> <p class="poetry">their courage wavers.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For this reason my stomach churns;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">cramps overwhelm mep> <p class="poetry">like the contractions of a woman in labor.p> <p class="poetry">I am disturbed<n id="2" /> by what I hear,p> <p class="poetry">horrified by what I see.p>

<p class="poetry">From the ends of the earth we<n id="1" /> hear songs &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the Just One is majestic.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But I<n id="3" /> say, &#8220;I&#8217;m wasting away! I&#8217;m wasting away! I&#8217;m doomed!p> <p class="poetry">Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">So now, do not mock,p> <p class="poetry">or your chains will become heavier!p> <p class="poetry">For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,p> <p class="poetry">from the sovereign master, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, against the entire land.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">For people will live in Zion;p> <p class="poetry">in Jerusalem<n id="1" /> you will weep no more.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;p> <p class="poetry">when he hears it, he will respond to you.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">You<n id="1" /> will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;This is the correct<n id="2" /> way, walk in it,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">whether you are heading to the right or the left.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> will give a mighty shout<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and intervene in power,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.p>