and prayed:<n id="1" /> &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty<n id="2" /> to your servants who obey you with sincerity.<n id="3" />

You split the sea before them, and they crossed through<n id="1" /> the sea on dry ground! But you threw their pursuers<n id="2" /> into the depths, like a stone into surging<n id="3" /> waters.

<p class="poetry">With all my strength I will say,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;O <sc>Lordsc>, who can compare to you?p> <p class="poetry">You rescue<n id="2" /> the oppressed from those who try to overpower them;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">adrift<n id="1" /> among the dead,p> <p class="poetry">like corpses lying in the grave,p> <p class="poetry">whom you remember no more,p> <p class="poetry">and who are cut off from your power.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">for he is<n id="1" /> like someone calculating the cost<n id="2" /> in his mind.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Eat and drink,&#8221; he says to you,p> <p class="poetry">but his heart is not with you;p>

<p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Lover to His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry"><v id="(7:2)" /> How beautiful are your sandaled<n id="1" /> feet,p> <p class="poetry">O nobleman&#8217;s daughter!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The curves<n id="3" /> of your thighs<n id="4" /> are like jewels,p> <p class="poetry">the work of the hands of a master craftsman.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>

<p class="poetry">You will desecrate your silver-plated idols<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and your gold-plated images.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,p> <p class="poetry">saying to them, &#8220;Get out!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Who is like me? Let him make his claim!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let him announce it and explain it to me &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">since I established an ancient people &#8211; <n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">let them announce future events!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">because you deserve to be revered.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For there is no one like youp> <p class="poetry">among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">What will you say<n id="1" /> when the <sc>Lordsc><n id="2" /> appoints as rulers over you those alliesp> <p class="poetry">that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Then anguish and agony will grip youp> <p class="poetry">like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish?p> <p class="poetry">Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound?p> <p class="poetry">Will you let me down when I need youp> <p class="poetry">like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">There has never been any like it.p> <p class="poetry">It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">but some of them will be rescued out of it.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Come from far away and attack Babylonia!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Open up the places where she stores her grain!p> <p class="poetry">Pile her up in ruins!<n id="2" /> Destroy her completely!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not leave anyone alive!<n id="4" />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>

I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again because of all your abominable practices.<n id="1" />

before your evil was exposed? Now you have become an object of scorn to the daughters of Aram<n id="1" /> and all those around her and to the daughters of the Philistines &#8211; those all around you who despise you.

<p class="poetry">There is no other God like you!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You<n id="2" /> forgive sinp> <p class="poetry">and pardon<n id="3" /> the rebellionp> <p class="poetry">of those who remain among your people.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">You do not remain angry forever,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">but delight in showing loyal love.p>

The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all will guard them, and they will prevail and overcome with sling stones. Then they will drink, and will become noisy like drunkards,<n id="1" /> full like the sacrificial basin or like the corners of the altar.<n id="2" />

The Ephraimites will be like warriors and will rejoice as if they had drunk wine. Their children will see it and rejoice; they will celebrate in the things of the <sc>Lordsc>.