The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ¹  he has turned back your enemy. Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst! You no longer need to fear disaster.

Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you. I will rescue the lame sheep ¹  and gather together the scattered sheep. I will take away their humiliation and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ² 

“For this reason I ¹  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ²  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ³  and some you will flog ⁴  in your synagogues ⁵  and pursue from town to town,

The hired hand, ¹  who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons ²  the sheep and runs away. ³  So the wolf attacks ⁴  the sheep and scatters them.

They had not gone very far from the city ¹  when Joseph said ²  to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! ³  When you overtake ⁴  them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent, ¹  and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead ²  with the tent peg in his temple.

Gilead’s wife also gave ¹  him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, ²  because you are another woman’s son.”

Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines at night; we will rout ¹  them until the break of day. ²  We won’t leave any of them alive!” ³  They replied, “Do whatever seems best to you.” ⁴  But the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.”

Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure ¹  fortified cities for himself and get away from us.”

Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s other hand, and Joab ¹  stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa’s ²  intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal. ³  Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

Benaiah son of Jehoida was a brave warrior ¹  from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. ²  He also went down and killed a lion in a cistern on a snowy day.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave warrior from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab; ¹  he also went down and killed a lion inside a cistern on a snowy day.

But you banished ¹  the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods! ² 

He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered ¹  their young men in their temple. ²  He did not spare ³  young men or women, or even the old and aging. God ⁴  handed everyone over to him.

Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me: “The Lord will be like a growling lion, like a young lion growling over its prey. ¹  Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it, it is not afraid of their shouts or intimidated by their yelling. ²  In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³ 

“How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean. I have not paid allegiance to ¹  the gods called Baal.’ Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! ²  Think about the things you have done there! You are like a flighty, young female camel that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. ³ 

You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness. In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. ¹  No one can hold her back when she is in heat. None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her. At mating time she is easy to find. ² 

“Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ¹  You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ²  You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ³  You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ⁴ 

All your allies ¹  will force ²  you from your homeland! ³  Your treaty partners ⁴  will deceive you and overpower you. Your trusted friends ⁵  will set an ambush ⁶  for ⁷  you that will take you by surprise! ⁸ 

Gad went to David and told him, “Shall seven ¹  years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide ²  what I should tell the one who sent me.”