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The word of the
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Judah mourns
and her gates languish;
they lie in gloom on the ground,
and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
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Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns,
they find no water,
they return with their vessels empty.
They are ashamed and dismayed
and cover their heads,
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because the ground is cracked.
Because there has been no rain on the land
the farmers are dismayed;
they cover their heads.
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Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
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The wild asses stand on the bare heights, 1
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no herbage.
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Although our iniquities testify against us,
act, O
our apostasies indeed are many,
and we have sinned against you.
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O hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler turning aside for the night?
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Why should you be like someone confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O
and we are called by your name;
do not forsake us!
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Thus says the
Truly they have loved to wander,
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
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The