¹⁸ She has no one among all her children to be her guide; not one of the sons she has taken care of takes her by the hand.

²¹ Then you will say in your heart, Who has given me all these children? when my children had been taken from me, and I was no longer able to have others, who took care of these? when I was by myself, where then were these?

¹⁸ You have sent my friends and lovers far from me; I am gone from the memory of those who are dear to me.

⁴ Looking to my right side, I saw no man who was my friend: I had no safe place; no one had any care for my soul.

⁹ Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand, to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; for they did not keep the agreement with me, and I gave them up, says the Lord.

¹¹ And now, see, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind and not able to see the sun for a time. And straight away a dark mist came down on him; and he went about looking for a guide.

⁸ And Saul got up from the earth, and when his eyes were open, he saw nothing; and he was guided by the hand into Damascus.

²³ And he took the blind man by the hand, and went with him out of the town; and when he had put water from his mouth on his eyes, and put his hands on him, he said, Do you see anything?

¹⁴ Let them be: they are blind guides. And if a blind man is guiding a blind man, the two will go falling into a hole together.

³⁶ But when he saw all the people he was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper.

³² Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; which agreement was broken by them, and I gave them up, says the Lord.

¹ The Lord says to the man of his selection, to Cyrus, whom I have taken by the right hand, putting down nations before him, and taking away the arms of kings; making the doors open before him, so that the ways into the towns may not be shut;

¹³ For I, the Lord your God, have taken your right hand in mine, saying to you, Have no fear; I will be your helper.

⁴ And I will make children their chiefs, and foolish ones will have rule over them.

⁵ And the people will be crushed, every one by his neighbour; the young will be full of pride against the old, and those of low position will be lifted up against the noble.

⁶ When one man puts his hand on another in his father's house, and says, You have clothing, be our ruler and be responsible for us in our sad condition:

⁷ Then he will say with an oath, I will not be a helper, for in my house there is no bread or clothing: I will not let you make me a ruler of the people.

⁸ For Jerusalem has become feeble, and destruction has come on Judah, because their words and their acts are against the Lord, moving the eyes of his glory to wrath.

²⁰ Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.