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!”

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.

⁷ Nineveh’s exile has been decreed,
    and all the servant girls mourn its capture.
They moan like doves
    and beat their breasts in sorrow.

¹ I lift my eyes to you,
    O God, enthroned in heaven.
² We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy,
    just as servants keep their eyes on their master,
    as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
³ Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy,
    for we have had our fill of contempt.
⁴ We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud
    and the contempt of the arrogant.

³ I am exhausted from crying for help;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes are swollen with weeping,
    waiting for my God to help me.

²⁹ Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals
    and a companion to owls.

¹⁷ We looked in vain for our allies
    to come and save us,
but we were looking to nations
    that could not help us.

⁷ Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,
    for my depression deepens.
Don’t turn away from me,
    or I will die.