and they ¹  made the Israelites serve rigorously. ² 

Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. ¹  That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe ²  the Sabbath day.

If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed.

But you have attacked ¹  my father’s family ²  today. You murdered his seventy legitimate ³  sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative. ⁴ 

There ¹  the prisoners ²  relax ³  together; ⁴  they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. ⁵ 

He loosens ¹  the bonds ²  of kings and binds a loincloth ³  around their waist.

א (Alef) ^{1  2} Alas! ³  The city once full of people ⁴  now sits all alone! ⁵  The prominent ⁶  lady among the nations has become a widow! ⁷  The princess ⁸  who once ruled the provinces ⁹  has become a forced laborer!

But ¹  those tenants ²  seized his slave, ³  beat him, ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed. ⁵ 

Then ¹  he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord ²  of the Sabbath.”

You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men.

So they put foremen ¹  over the Israelites ²  to oppress ³  them with hard labor. As a result ⁴  they built Pithom and Rameses ⁵  as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹ During ²  that long period of time ³  the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites ⁴  groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry ⁵  because of their slave labor went up to God.

She arose, bowed her face toward the ground, and said, “Your female servant, like a lowly servant, will wash ¹  the feet of the servants of my lord.”

I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this! ¹  But with the slave girls whom you mentioned let me be distinguished!”

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 

Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews and they continue in that role to this very day. ¹ 

This is what the Lord says: “Because Gaza ¹  has committed three crimes ²  – make that four! ³  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁴  They deported a whole community ⁵  and sold them ⁶  to Edom.

but he answered ¹  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ²  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ³  you never gave me even a goat ⁴  so that I could celebrate with my friends!

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate ¹  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ²  the other. You cannot serve God and money.” ³ 

I no longer call you slaves, ¹  because the slave does not understand ²  what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything ³  I heard ⁴  from my Father.