“Mountains of Gilboa! No dew or rain be upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty lay rejected, The shield of Sha’ul, not anointed with oil.
But the people answered, “Do not go out, for if we flee away, they would not set heart upon us. Even if half of us die, they would not set heart upon us. For now, ten thousand are like us. Therefore, it is better for you to support us from the city.”
And Yirmeyahu lamented for Yoshiyahu. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Yoshiyahu in their lamentations, and made it a law in Yisra’ĕ
And each one shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the downpour, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Her gates have sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her sovereign and her rulers are among the gentiles. The Torah is no more, And her prophets have found no vision from יהוה.
‘They too shall go down to the grave with it, with those slain by the sword. And those who were its strength shall dwell in its shadows among the nations.
“Its leaves were lovely, and its fruit plenty, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.
“And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me as sovereign over you, come, take shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Leḇ
“Look, here I am. Witness against me before יהוה and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I oppressed? Whom have I abused, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? – then I restore it to you.”
So he said to them, “יהוה is witness against you, and His anointed is witness today, that you have found naught in my hand.” And they answered, “He is witness.”
“See, this day your eyes have seen that יהוה gave you today into my hand in the cave, and one said to slay you. But my eye pardoned you, and I said, ‘I do not stretch out my hand against my master, for he is the anointed of יהוה.’
So he said to his men, “Far be it from me, by יהוה, that I should do this matter to my master, anointed of יהוה, to stretch out my hand against him, for he is the anointed of יהוה.”
“What you have done is not good. As יהוה lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not guarded your master, the anointed of יהוה. And now see where the sovereign’s spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head.”