“Let us break apart their [divine] bands [of restraint]
And cast away their cords [of control] from us.”

‘You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall shatter them [in pieces] like earthenware.’”

Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
Seek out his wickedness until You find no more.

Have all the workers of wickedness and injustice no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?

Because they have no regard for the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not rebuild them.

I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned
Or his descendants pleading for bread.

Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].

But God will break you down forever;
He will take you away and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah.

Have workers of wickedness no knowledge or no understanding?
They eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God.

O God, break their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”

Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.

You have fed them the bread of tears,
And You have made them drink [bitter] tears in abundance.

If they break My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,

“Nevertheless, I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,
Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.

“My covenant I will not violate,
Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Shout [in jubilation] and sing for joy and sing praises.

For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And have mingled my drink with tears

And wine which makes the heart of man glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And bread to sustain and strengthen man’s heart.

And He called for a famine upon the land [of Egypt];
He cut off every source of bread.

The Israelites asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes.

It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.

“I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.