¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?^(A)
12 Why were there knees to receive me^(B)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
¹³ For now I would be lying down^(C) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest^(D)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,^(E)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,^(F)
15 with princes^(G) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.^(H)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(I)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(J)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,^(K)
    and there the weary are at rest.^(L)
18 Captives^(M) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s^(N) shout.^(O)
19 The small and the great are there,^(P)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

⁶ “The Lord brings death and makes alive;^(A)
    he brings down to the grave and raises up.^(B)

¹⁴ Therefore Death^(A) expands its jaws,
    opening wide its mouth;^(B)
into it will descend their nobles and masses
    with all their brawlers and revelers.^(C)

⁴⁹ Lord, where is your former great love,
    which in your faithfulness you swore to David?