1  Thus says the Lord:

“Where is ^gyour mother’s certificate of divorce,

with which ^hI sent her away?

Or ⁱwhich of my creditors is it

to whom I have sold you?

^jBehold, for your iniquities you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

2  ^kWhy, when I came, was there no man;

why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

^lIs my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

^mBehold, by my rebuke ⁿI dry up the sea,

^oI make the rivers a desert;

^ptheir fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

3  ^qI clothe the heavens with blackness

and make sackcloth their covering.”