<p class="poetry">When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you came down, and the mountains trembled<n id="2" /> before you.p>

<p class="poetry">Look, I have decreed:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;p> <p class="poetry">I will pay them back exactly what they deserve,<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Carefully read the scroll of the <sc>Lordsc>!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Not one of these creatures will be missing,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">none will lack a mate.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> has issued the decree,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and his own spirit gathers them.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will guide them down paths they have never traveled.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,p> <p class="poetry">and level out the rough ground.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This is what I will do for them.p> <p class="poetry">I will not abandon them.p>

<p class="poetry">You are my witnesses,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;my servant whom I have chosen,p> <p class="poetry">so that you may consider<n id="1" /> and believe in me,p> <p class="poetry">and understand that I am he.p> <p class="poetry">No god was formed before me,p> <p class="poetry">and none will outlive me.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,p> <p class="poetry">nor will the moon&#8217;s brightness shine on you;p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc> will be your permanent source of light &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the splendor of your God will shine upon you.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will no longer be called, &#8220;Abandoned,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">and your land will no longer be called &#8220;Desolate.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="1" /> you will be called &#8220;My Delight is in Her,&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and your land &#8220;Married.&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will take delight in you,p> <p class="poetry">and your land will be married to him.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Never again will one of her infants live just a few days<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">or an old man die before his time.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">anyone who fails to reach<n id="4" /> the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.p>

<p class="poetry">From the soles of your feet to your head,p> <p class="poetry">there is no spot that is unharmed.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">There are only bruises, cuts,p> <p class="poetry">and open wounds.p> <p class="poetry">They have not been cleansed<n id="2" /> or bandaged,p> <p class="poetry">nor have they been treated<n id="3" /> with olive oil.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am stuffed with<n id="2" /> burnt sacrificesp> <p class="poetry">of rams and the fat from steers.p> <p class="poetry">The blood of bulls, lambs, and goatsp> <p class="poetry">I do not want.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The look on their faces<n id="1" /> testifies to their guilt;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Too bad for them!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">For they bring disaster on themselves.p>

<p class="poetry">I will make it a wasteland;p> <p class="poetry">no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and thorns and briers will grow there.p> <p class="poetry">I will order the cloudsp> <p class="poetry">not to drop any rain on it.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies told me this:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Many houses will certainly become desolate,p> <p class="poetry">large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">None tire or stumble,p> <p class="poetry">they don&#8217;t stop to nap or sleep.p> <p class="poetry">They don&#8217;t loosen their belts,p> <p class="poetry">or unstrap their sandals to rest.<n id="1" />p>

They will stay away from all the hills that were cultivated, for fear of the thorns and briers.<n id="1" /> Cattle will graze there and sheep will trample on them.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">You<n id="1" /> have enlarged the nation;p> <p class="poetry">you give them great joy.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They rejoice in your presencep> <p class="poetry">as harvesters rejoice;p> <p class="poetry">as warriors celebrate<n id="3" /> when they divide up the plunder.p>

<p class="poetry">Syria from the east,p> <p class="poetry">and the Philistines from the west,p> <p class="poetry">they gobbled up Israelite territory.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Because of the anger of the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, the land was scorched,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and the people became fuel for the fire.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">People had no compassion on one another.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,p> <p class="poetry">or to fall among those who have been killed.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it,p> <p class="poetry">or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it,p> <p class="poetry">or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!p>