17. “Groan silently, make no mourning for the dead. Bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your upper lip, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”
18. And I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I was commanded.
19. And the people said to me, “Would you not explain to us what these matters you are doing mean to us?”
20. And I said to them, “The word of יהוה came to me, saying,
21. ‘Speak to the house of Yisra’ĕl, “Thus said the Master יהוה, ‘See, I am profaning My set-apart place – the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your being. And your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
22. ‘And you shall do as I have done, do not cover your upper lip nor eat man’s bread of sorrow,
23. and let your turbans remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. Do not mourn, nor weep, but you shall pine away in your crookednesses and groan with one another.