Then Joab blew the ram’s horn and all the people stopped in their tracks. ¹  They stopped chasing Israel and ceased fighting. ² 

You men, ¹  how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? ²  How long ³  will you love what is worthless ⁴  and search for what is deceptive? ⁵  (Selah)

Listen to my cry for help, for I am in serious trouble! ¹  Rescue me from those who chase me, for they are stronger than I am.

All his retinue – his attendants and his troops – I will scatter to every wind; I will unleash a sword behind them.

For the unconverted ¹  pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ¹  rest were hardened,

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

in that he spends the rest of his time ¹  on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires.

I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ¹  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

and the curse if you pay no attention ¹  to his ²  commandments and turn from the way I am setting before ³  you today to pursue ⁴  other gods you have not known.

After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.”

But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving ¹  you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship ²  them.

They will attack ¹  us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them.

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ⁴  Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ⁵  All day long hostile enemies ⁶  are tormenting me. ⁷ 

May he send help from heaven and deliver me ¹  from my enemies who hurl insults! ²  (Selah) May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

All the relatives ¹  of a poor person hate him; ²  how much more do his friends avoid him – he pursues them ³  with words, but they do not respond. ⁴ 

Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out and your throats become dry. ¹  But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me because I love those foreign gods ²  and want to pursue them!’

I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors ¹  have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords ²  until I have destroyed them.’” ³ 

ג (Gimel) Judah ¹  has departed into exile under ²  affliction and harsh oppression. ³  She ⁴  lives among the nations; she has found no resting place. All who pursued her overtook her in ⁵  narrow straits. ⁶ 

So let us acknowledge him! ¹  Let us seek ²  to acknowledge ³  the Lord! He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn, as certainly as the winter rain comes, as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”