Then they said to him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, rebuke and contempt. For children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength for giving birth.
They say to wood, ‘You are my father’ and to a stone, ‘You birthed me.’ They have turned their back to Me and not their face. Yet when they are in trouble they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’
Arise! Cry out in the night at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the life of your children who faint from hunger at the head of every street.
Nor did they not cry to Me in their heart when they were wailing on their beds. For the sake of grain and new wine they slash themselves— they keep turning away from Me.
The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against Adonai and you! Pray to Adonai for us, that He may take away the snakes!” So Moses prayed for the people.
But in response Hannah said, “No, my lord, I am a woman with an oppressed spirit! I haven’t been drinking wine or beer. Instead I’ve been pouring out my soul before Adonai.