In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite ¹  living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine ²  from Bethlehem ³  in Judah.

The Levite ¹  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ²  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ³  But no one has invited me into their home.

So they went away by themselves in a boat to some remote place.

They are joined by ¹  Gomer with all its troops, and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples are with you. ² 

But you were brought down ¹  to Sheol, to the remote slopes of the pit. ² 

“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day ¹  your Lord will come.

and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army.

When evening arrived, his disciples came to him saying, “This is an isolated place ¹  and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

The kings of Tarshish ¹  and the coastlands will offer gifts; the kings of Sheba ²  and Seba ³  will bring tribute.

Whatever has happened is beyond human ¹  understanding; ²  it is far deeper than anyone can fathom. ³ 

The coastlands ¹  see and are afraid; the whole earth ²  trembles; they approach and come.

His disciples answered him, “Where can someone get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy these people?”

So his father Isaac said to him, “Indeed, ¹  your home will be away from the richness ²  of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above.

The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, ¹  so he is to send the goat away ²  in the wilderness.

“This commandment I am giving ¹  you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote.

Far from where people live ¹  he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, ²  far from other people he dangles and sways. ³ 

From the most remote place on earth ¹  I call out to you in my despair. ²  Lead me ³  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ⁴ 

Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ¹  you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ² 

Turn to me so you can be delivered, ¹  all you who live in the earth’s remote regions! For I am God, and I have no peer.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Beware! An army ¹  is coming from a land in the north. A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.