²⁶ But when I looked for good, evil came,
    and when I waited for light, darkness came.^(A)

¹⁵ We look for peace but find no good,
    for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.^(A)

¹⁹ Have you completely rejected Judah?
    Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
    so that there is no healing for us?
We look for peace but find no good,
    for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.^(A)

²⁵ Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,
    and what I dread befalls me.
²⁶ I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
    I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

¹² For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
yet disaster has come down from the Lord
    to the gate of Jerusalem.^(A)

¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing,
    my wound incurable,
    refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
    like waters that fail.^(A)

¹¹ Light dawns^[a] for the righteous
    and joy for the upright in heart.^(A)

¹⁸ Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
    and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix;^[a](A)