<p class="poetry">If I cry<n id="1" /> to corruption,<n id="2" /> &#8216;You are my father,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">and to the worm, &#8216;My Mother,&#8217; or &#8216;My sister,&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">but from my youth I raised the orphan<n id="1" /> like a father,p> <p class="poetry">and from my mother&#8217;s womb<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I guided the widow!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I have been dependent on you since birth;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">from the time I came out of my mother&#8217;s womb you have been my God.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,p> <p class="poetry">a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">My own brothers treat me like a stranger;p> <p class="poetry">they act as if I were a foreigner.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Certainly<n id="1" /> you made my mind and heart;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you wove me together<n id="3" /> in my mother&#8217;s womb.p>

<p class="poetry">When I was a son to my father,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">a tender only child<n id="2" /> before my mother,p>

the descendants of Shephatiah, the descendants of Hattil, the descendants of Pokereth-Hazzebaim, and the descendants of Ami.p>

<p class="poetry">Yes, you are the one who brought me out<n id="1" /> from the wombp> <p class="poetry">and made me feel secure on my mother&#8217;s breasts.p>

<p class="poetry">I have leaned on you since birth;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you pulled me<n id="2" /> from my mother&#8217;s womb.p> <p class="poetry">I praise you continually.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I would lead you and bring you to my mother&#8217;s house,p> <p class="poetry">the one who taught me.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I would give you<n id="2" /> spiced wine<n id="3" /> to drink,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the nectar of my pomegranates.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Cursed be the day I was born!p> <p class="poetry">May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">For he did not kill me before I came from the womb,p> <p class="poetry">making my pregnant mother&#8217;s womb my grave forever.<n id="1" />p>

What&#8217;s more,<n id="1" /> she is indeed my sister, my father&#8217;s daughter, but not my mother&#8217;s daughter. She became my wife.

that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us<n id="1" /> from death.&#8221;

He said, &#8220;They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear,<n id="1" /> as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.&#8221;

He said, &#8220;Naked<n id="1" /> I came from my mother&#8217;s womb, and naked I will return there.<n id="2" /> The <sc>Lordsc> gives, and the <sc>Lordsc> takes away.<n id="3" /> May the name of the <sc>Lordsc><n id="4" /> be blessed!&#8221;

<p class="poetry">Do not stare at me because<n id="1" /> I am dark,p> <p class="poetry">for<n id="2" /> the sun has burned my skin.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">My brothers<n id="4" /> were angry<n id="5" /> with me;p> <p class="poetry">they made me the keeper of the vineyards.p> <p class="poetry">Alas, my own vineyard<n id="6" /> I could not keep!<n id="7" />p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Oh, how I wish you were<n id="1" /> my little brother,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">nursing at my mother&#8217;s breasts;p> <p class="poetry">if I saw<n id="3" /> you outside, I could kiss you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">surely<n id="4" /> no one would despise me!<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen to me, you coastlands!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Pay attention, you people who live far away!p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> summoned me from birth;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.<n id="3" />p>