² From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

¹⁰ For ^(A)godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas ^(B)worldly grief produces death. ¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, ^(C)what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

⁴ “Blessed are ^(A)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Him Whom They Have Pierced

¹⁰ “And ^(A)I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and ^(B)pleas for mercy, so that, ^(C)when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, ^(D)they shall mourn for him, ^(E)as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. ^11 (F)On that day ^(G)the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great ^(H)as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

²⁴ “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. ^25 (E)Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For ^(F)we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁴ As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.