Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions have driven him out. The king of Assyria first devoured him, and afterward this king of Babylon [has gnawed] his bones.

Thus says the Lord: The children of Israel and the children of Judah have been oppressed. All those that have taken them captive have oppressed them together, for they would not let them go.

I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given My beloved one into the hands of her enemies.

Is not My inheritance to Me [like] a hyena's cave, or a cave round about her? Go, gather together all the wild beasts of the field, and let them come to devour her.

It is made a complete ruin: for My sake the whole land has been utterly ruined, because there is none that takes [the matter] to heart.

For they have devoured Jacob, and laid his place waste.

[even] Syria from the rising of the sun, and the Greeks from the setting of the sun, who devour Israel with open mouth. For all this [His] anger is not turned away, but still [His] hand is exalted.

All you beasts of the field, come, devour, all you beasts of the forest.

in following the Holy One of Israel, says the Lord, Israel was holiness unto the Lord, [and] the firstfruits of His increase. All that devoured him shall offend; evils shall come upon them, says the Lord.

And the chief captain of the guard took him, and said to him, The Lord your God has pronounced all these evils upon this place;

and the Lord has done it; because you sinned against Him, and hearkened not to His voice.

I have been provoked with My people; you have defiled My inheritance; I gave them into your hand, but you did not extend mercy to them; you made the yoke of the aged man very heavy,

we have not heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, and our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

O Lord, Your mercy is over all: let Your wrath turn away, I pray, and Your anger from Your city Jerusalem, [even] Your holy mountain; for we have sinned, and because of our iniquities, and those of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach among all that are round about us.

And I am very angry with the heathen that combine to attack [her]: for as I indeed was a little angry, but they combined to attack [her] for evil.

which their possessors have slain, and have not repented: and they that sold them said, Blessed be the Lord; for we have become rich: and their shepherds have suffered no sorrow for them.

For thus says the Lord: They shall yet speak this word in the land of Judah, and in its cities, when I shall turn his captivity; blessed be the Lord on His righteous holy mountain!

A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our refuge in all generations.

Praise of a Song, by David. He that dwells in the help of the Highest, shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven.

O Lord, [You are] the hope of Israel, and deliver [us] in times of trouble; why have You become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting place?

Our fathers hoped in You; they hoped, and You delivered them.

They cried to You, and were saved; they hoped in You, and were not ashamed.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,