“‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of ¹  their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ ²  iniquities which are with them.

And the Judahites by their families were: from Shelah, the family of the Shelahites; from Perez, the family of the Perezites; and from Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.

The Lord commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him ¹  so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day.

As for the cities of these peoples that ¹  the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing ²  to survive.

Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. ¹ 

the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was one of the few remaining Rephaites.) ¹  Moses defeated them and took their lands. ² 

Israel worshiped ¹  the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. ²  These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel. ³ 

Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died ¹  by the edge of the sword; not even one survived! ² 

The Lord says, ¹  ‘Look, I am ready to bring disaster ²  on you. I will destroy you ³  and cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. ⁴ 

“This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: ‘Why are you so confident that you remain in Jerusalem while it is under siege? ¹ 

He deported to Babylon all who escaped the sword. They served him and his sons until the Persian kingdom rose to power.

So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ¹  And what advantage ²  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ³ 

Those remaining in Zion, ¹  those left in Jerusalem, ²  will be called “holy,” ³  all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. ⁴ 

For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as ¹  the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. ²  Destruction has been decreed; ³  just punishment ⁴  is about to engulf you. ⁵ 

Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic ¹  grips the godless. ²  They say, ³  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ⁴  fire?’

“For a remnant will leave Jerusalem; survivors will come out of Mount Zion. The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies ¹  will accomplish this.

For the time has come to destroy all the Philistines. The time has come to destroy all the help that remains for Tyre ¹  and Sidon. ²  For I, the Lord, will ³  destroy the Philistines, that remnant that came from the island of Crete. ⁴ 

The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. ¹  I, the Lord, have spoken! ² 

ר (Resh) Our very life breath – the Lord’s anointed king ¹  – was caught in their traps, ²  of whom we thought, ³  “Under his protection ⁴  we will survive among the nations.”

Violence ¹  has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left ²  – not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence. ³