² and in the presence of his associates^(A) and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble^(B)—burned as they are?”

Psalm 79

A psalm of Asaph.

¹⁰ Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers^(A) is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire.^(A) Come, let us rebuild the wall^(B) of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.^(C)”

³ but I said to the king, “May the king live forever!^(A) Why should my face not look sad when the city^(B) where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?^(C)”