Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sing a Dirge for America

Sing a dirge for America.
Her shining shores are sullied.
Her towers, once bright, have crumbled.
Strange murmurings and moans are heard in her streets.
Men like women, love each other;
They look with leering eyes
Gloating of their degradation—not repenting.
Their looks and lies lure
Unsuspecting youth to revel in their gaiety.

Likewise, women bold and crass,
Have cast their lot with Lesbos (i)
Swearing worship to Eros (ii) and Aphrodite (iii)
They are totally depraved.
They strut with little shame.
Unnatural and illusory—there is no warmth, only pornea.(iv)
They worship a cold and deadly idol full of deceit.(v)

Speaking blasphemies and exalting themselves,
Our leaders appoint demons and devils
To bless unholy practices,
While worldwide, cities burn and millions die.
They turn their ears from cries for help
And dance, naked—drunk with power and perversity
Declaring evil as good,
And good as evil. (vi)

The House, once pristine, will suffer shame.
Its raised cupola will collapse—there will be none to save.
Rulers in the land will cry,
“Spare us!” but there will be none to rescue.

Your fall is near.
Foreigners are at your gates.
They will devour your wealth.
They will eat your children
Before they cut you down.
You will have no time to bemoan or bury the dead,
For none will be left to carry out the ritual.

Famine will sweep your land.
Do not cry or wail.
Do not seek comfort.
Do not seek aid--
All your associates have forsaken you.

They turn against the wall in ignorance.
They dance to the profane songs of disrepute
While your flesh is being consumed
They will awake from their stupor
And will look on in amazement.

Allies will be too weak to defend you
You who have abandoned the needy,
You who have wasted the orphan,
You who have devoured widow’s houses. (vii)

All of you will be abandoned
In the valleys
In the streets
In the cities
In the fields
Slain—
Your bodies will be discarded in rivers, lakes, and seas.

No one will commiserate or lament.
You will not escape—judgment is passed.
Can you not perceive or hear it?
Your ears are deaf from venery. (viii)
Your eyes are blind from surfeiting.


All your monuments to self and greatness
Will be shattered and scattered.
Any trace will be difficult to find.
The world will mourn
Without respite or relief.

You have fallen under the judgment of God
You have exalted yourself, but he
Will bring you low to the sides of sheol. (ix)

The hour is late.
The day is gone
The night is spent and
We are not saved. (x)
Time cedes to eternity.

What can his people do? (xi)
While it is called Today:(xii)
Hear his voice;
Follow his ways;
Obey your King. (xiii)

Repent and pray.
Fast and seek his face. (xiv)
Warn the wicked to turn from their sinful ways, (xv)
Perhaps then God will have compassion and mercy.

Weep for yourselves and for your countrymen. (xvi)
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. (xvii)
Arise from your sleep and Christ will give you light. (xviii)


(i)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho; Lesbos is the largest island after Crete and the birth place of Sappho, Greek poetess, whose verses allude to love between women, thus the word lesbian derives from this association. Sappho is the most famous of the ancient Greek women poets. [Sappho is known for the island on which she lived and taught young women, Lesbos, and the assumption that she and some of her students were lesbians http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/sappho/Sappho_of_Lesbos.htm].
(ii) Koine Greek—eros—sensual love
(iii)Aphrodite—Greek goddess of sensual love
(iv) Koine Greek—pornea—the root word from which the English word, pornography, is derived
(v) Romans 1:26-28
(vi)Isaiah 5
(vii) Matthew 23:13
(viii) Venery: the pursuit of or indulgence in sexual pleasure
(ix)Isaiah 14:15
(x) Jeremiah 8:18-22
(xi)II Chronicles 7:14
(xii)Hebrews 3:7-19
(xiii)Psalm 2:9-12
(xiv)Psalm 105:4
(xv) Ezekiel 33
(xvi)James 4:6-10
(xvii)I Peter 5:6
(xvii)Ephesians 5:8,13-21

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