ח (Khet) The Lord was determined to tear down Daughter Zion’s wall. He prepared to knock it down; ¹  he did not withdraw his hand from destroying. ²  He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament; together they mourned their ruin. ³ 

Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ¹  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ² 

You make my enemies retreat; ¹  I destroy those who hate me.

You make my enemies retreat; ¹  I destroy those who hate me. ² 

They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

The Lord tears down the house of the proud, ¹  but he maintains the boundaries of the widow. ² 

Do not lie in wait like the wicked ¹  against the place where the righteous live; do not assault ²  his home.

Yet even then ¹  I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord.

I will remove ¹  Moab’s leader; ²  I will kill all Moab’s ³  officials ⁴  with him.” The Lord has spoken!

I will destroy the cities of your land, and tear down all your fortresses.

I will strike you brutally ¹  and destroy you because of your sin.

And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ¹  and said ²  to himself, ³  “I will never again curse ⁴  the ground because of humankind, even though ⁵  the inclination of their minds ⁶  is evil from childhood on. ⁷  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

For ¹  the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, ²  I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, ³  that I may know ⁴  what I should do to you.’” ⁵ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. ⁴  Deliver me from my enemies, my God! Protect me ⁵  from those who attack me! ⁶ 

Why do you forget ¹  the Lord, who made you, who stretched out the sky ²  and founded the earth? Why do you constantly tremble all day long ³  at the anger of the oppressor, when he makes plans to destroy? Where is the anger of the oppressor? ⁴ 

So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. ¹  For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things. ² 

They will eat up your crops and your food. They will kill off ¹  your sons and your daughters. They will eat up your sheep and your cattle. They will destroy your vines and your fig trees. ²  Their weapons will batter down ³  the fortified cities you trust in.

I, the Lord, tell ¹  you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servant, for I am with you. Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” ² 

His intention ¹  will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances. ²  He will give the king of the south ³  a daughter ⁴  in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage.

After they had gone, an ¹  angel of the Lord ²  appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod ³  is going to look for the child to kill him.”