The Lord decided not to do this. ¹  “It will not happen,” the Lord said.

The people regretted what had happened to ¹  Benjamin because the Lord had weakened ²  the Israelite tribes.

The king longed ¹  to go to Absalom, for he had since been consoled over the death of Amnon. ² 

The sons of Hodiah’s wife, the sister of Naham: the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.

In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles his people; he protects ¹  Jerusalem.

The Lord decided not to do this. ¹  The sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”

Certainly the Lord will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord. Happiness and joy will be restored to ¹  her, thanksgiving and the sound of music.

Shout for joy, O sky! ¹  Rejoice, O earth! Let the mountains give a joyful shout! For the Lord consoles his people and shows compassion to the ²  oppressed.

May that man be like the cities ¹  that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy. May he hear a cry of distress in the morning and a battle cry at noon.

Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not! ¹  Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not! O Death, bring on your plagues! ²  O Sheol, bring on your destruction! ³  My eyes will not show any compassion! ⁴ 

¹ When Pharaoh released ²  the people, God did not lead them ³  by the way to the land ⁴  of the Philistines, ⁵  although ⁶  that was nearby, for God said, ⁷  “Lest ⁸  the people change their minds ⁹  and return to Egypt when they experience war.”

Until the day he ¹  died Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

I have listened to them very carefully, ¹  but they do not speak honestly. None of them regrets the evil he has done. None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ²  All of them persist in their own wayward course ³  like a horse charging recklessly into battle.