Then ¹  tell them, ‘The Lord says, “I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor. ²  I will also fill the kings from David’s dynasty, ³  the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor. ⁴ 

If you do this, ¹  then the kings and princes who follow in David’s succession ²  and ride in chariots or on horses will continue to enter through these gates, as well as their officials and the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. ³  This city will always be filled with people. ⁴ 

Say, ‘Listen to what the Lord says, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! ¹  The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ²  says, “I will bring a disaster on this place ³  that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring! ⁴ 

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  told him, “Go and speak to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them, ²  ‘I, the Lord, say: ³  “You must learn a lesson from this ⁴  about obeying what I say! ⁵ 

“‘Any person ¹  who eats an animal that has died of natural causes ²  or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a foreigner, ³  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he becomes clean.

Whenever your countrymen who live in the cities bring a case before you ¹  (whether it involves a violent crime ²  or other matters related to the law, commandments, rules, and regulations), warn them that they must not sin against the Lord. If you fail to do so, God will be angry with you and your colleagues; but if you obey, you will be free of guilt. ³ 

So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem ¹  this: The Lord says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. ²  So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. ³  Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’ ⁴ 

Only conduct yourselves ¹  in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that – whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent – I should hear that ²  you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel, ³ 

“‘If an ordinary individual ¹  sins by straying unintentionally ²  when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, ³  and he pleads guilty

“‘You ¹  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ²  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ³  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁴ 

You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. ¹ 

You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since ¹  the last jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left. ² 

No one is to oppress his fellow citizen, ¹  but you must fear your God, because I am the Lord your God.

For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has consumed Ar of Moab and the lords ¹  of the high places of Arnon.

you must by all means ¹  slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate ²  with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock.

His mother’s relatives ¹  spoke on his behalf to ²  all the leaders of Shechem and reported his proposal. ³  The leaders were drawn to Abimelech; ⁴  they said, “He is our close relative.” ⁵ 

All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar ¹  in Shechem.

The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting ¹  bandits in ²  the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it. ³ 

But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. ¹  The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.) ² 

The Lord attacked ¹  the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of ²  both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. ³