'Wail' in the Bible

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

“Wail, O gate; cry, O city;Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;For smoke comes from the north,And there is no straggler in his ranks.

For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab,Its wail goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim.

Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-haresethAs those who are utterly stricken.

The oracle concerning Tyre.Wail, O ships of Tarshish,For Tyre is destroyed, without house or harbor;It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.

Pass over to Tarshish;Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,For your stronghold is destroyed.

“Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart,But you will cry out with a heavy heart,And you will wail with a broken spirit.

“For this, put on sackcloth,Lament and wail;For the fierce anger of the LordHas not turned back from us.”

“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;And wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock;For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come,And you will fall like a choice vessel.

Thus says the Lord:“Behold, waters are going to rise from the northAnd become an overflowing torrent,And overflow the land and all its fullness,The city and those who live in it;And the men will cry out,And every inhabitant of the land will wail.

“Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered.Wail and cry out;Declare by the ArnonThat Moab has been destroyed.

“Therefore I will wail for Moab,Even for all Moab will I cry out;I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed!Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah,Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament,And rush back and forth inside the walls;For Malcam will go into exileTogether with his priests and his princes.

Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;Wail over her!Bring balm for her pain;Perhaps she may be healed.

Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people, therefore strike your thigh.

“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’

“Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit;

And they do not cry to Me from their heartWhen they wail on their beds;For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves,They turn away from Me.

Awake, drunkards, and weep;And wail, all you wine drinkers,On account of the sweet wineThat is cut off from your mouth.

Wail like a virgin girded with sackclothFor the bridegroom of her youth.

Be ashamed, O farmers,Wail, O vinedressers,For the wheat and the barley;Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.

Gird yourselves with sackclothAnd lament, O priests;Wail, O ministers of the altar!Come, spend the night in sackclothO ministers of my God,For the grain offering and the drink offeringAre withheld from the house of your God.

Because of this I must lament and wail,I must go barefoot and naked;I must make a lament like the jackalsAnd a mourning like the ostriches.

“On that day,” declares the Lord,“There will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate,A wail from the Second Quarter,And a loud crash from the hills.

“Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar,For all the people of Canaan will be silenced;All who weigh out silver will be cut off.

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,Because the glorious trees have been destroyed;Wail, O oaks of Bashan,For the impenetrable forest has come down.

There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail,For their glory is ruined;There is a sound of the young lions’ roar,For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.