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^[a] after the Lord.

¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.^{(A) 11} For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.

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

Mourning for the Pierced One

¹⁰ And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that, when they look on the one^[a] whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn.^{(A) 11} On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.^(B)

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

⁴ When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.