An OUTCRY — not a prayer but the raw shout of someone being crushed, and in the Bible God is depicted as hearing it whether or not it is addressed to him. It opens Exodus: 'the sons of Israel groaned because of the bondage and CRIED OUT, and their OUTCRY went up to God' (2:23), 'I have heard their OUTCRY' (3:7, 9). ⚠️ The same word then returns on the other side: 'there shall be a great OUTCRY in all the land of Egypt' (11:6; 12:30). Exodus never comments on the symmetry — it simply uses one word for both. The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah reached God the same way (Genesis 18:20-21), and Abel's blood 'cries out' from the ground (Genesis 4:10); Isaiah puns on it bitterly — God looked for justice (mishpat) and found bloodshed (mispach), for righteousness (tzedaqah) and found an OUTCRY (tze'aqah) (5:7). → first discussed at Exod 11:6