For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, ¹  of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews,

For I could wish ¹  that I myself were accursed – cut off from Christ – for the sake of my people, ²  my fellow countrymen, ³ 

They ¹  will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; ²  the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them.

After him their relatives ¹  worked – Binnui ²  son of Henadad, head of a half-district of Keilah.

I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, ¹  in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, ²  in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers,

But just listen to what the Lord has to say about ¹  the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem ²  and were not carried off into exile with you.

If you make a sale ¹  to your fellow citizen ²  or buy ³  from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother. ⁴ 

Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your countrymen to do what the Lord commanded through Moses.” ¹ 

I ¹  was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, ²  and was ³  extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. ⁴ 

Our inheritance ¹  is turned over to strangers; foreigners now occupy our homes. ² 

You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly. ¹ 

you must select without fail ¹  a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens ²  you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. ³ 

If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ¹  and regards him as mere property ²  and sells him, that kidnapper ³  must die. In this way you will purge ⁴  evil from among you.

You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ¹  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ² 

Stand in the sanctuary and, together with the Levites, represent the family divisions of your countrymen. ¹ 

I considered these things carefully ¹  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ²  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ³  from your own countrymen!” ⁴  Because of them I called for ⁵  a great public assembly.

Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ²  He worked enthusiastically ³  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁴  all his descendants. ⁵ 

“‘Sure to be judged ¹  is the king who builds his palace using injustice and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. ²  He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor.

Recently, however, you yourselves ¹  showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own. ² 

Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, ¹  and speak to them – say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”