Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.
Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
And when one's relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.
let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope;
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
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