¹¹ We growl like hungry bears;
    we moan like mournful doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
    We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.

¹⁴ Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane,
    and then I moaned like a mourning dove.
My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help.
    I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!”

¹⁴ They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.
    Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.
They cut themselves,^[a] begging foreign gods for grain and new wine,
    and they turn away from me.

9 ^[a]If only my head were a pool of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
    for all my people who have been slaughtered.

¹⁵ We hoped for peace, but no peace came.
    We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’

⁹ So there is no justice among us,
    and we know nothing about right living.
We look for light but find only darkness.
    We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.

²⁰ For your children have fainted and lie in the streets,
    helpless as antelopes caught in a net.
The Lord has poured out his fury;
    God has rebuked them.

⁹ Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
    so our land will be filled with his glory.