He grows up ¹  like a flower and then withers away; ²  he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. ³ 

Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, ¹  he runs away. ² 

It hurls itself against him without pity ¹  as he flees headlong from its power.

However, suppose a person hates someone else ¹  and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, ²  and then flees to one of these cities.

You who live in Aroer, ¹  stand by the road and watch. Question the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping. Ask them, ‘What has happened?’

If he flees from an iron weapon, then an arrow ¹  from a bronze bow pierces him.

Anyone who flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in a trap. ¹  For the time is coming when I will punish the people of Moab. ²  I, the Lord, affirm it! ³ 

Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, ¹  if he has accidentally killed another ²  without hating him at the time of the accident. ³ 

The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, ¹  but the righteous person is as confident ²  as a lion.

The one who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit; ¹  the one who climbs out of the pit, will be trapped by the snare. For the floodgates of the heavens ²  are opened up ³  and the foundations of the earth shake.

The one who committed manslaughter ¹  should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city. ²  They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there. ³ 

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 went through the pass, spent the night at Geba. Ramah trembled, Gibeah of Saul ran away.

In ¹  those days people ²  will seek death, but ³  will not be able to ⁴  find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

“My days ¹  are swifter than a runner, ²  they speed by without seeing happiness.

Madmenah flees, the residents of Gebim have hidden.

At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers the people of every town will flee. Some of them will hide in the thickets. Others will climb up among the rocks. All the cities will be deserted. No one will remain in them.

“‘As for ¹  the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer.

Egypt will run away, hissing like a snake, ¹  as the enemy comes marching up in force. They will come against her with axes as if they were woodsmen chopping down trees.

I saw the sovereign One ¹  standing by the altar ²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³  so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁴  and I will kill the survivors ⁵  with the sword. No one will be able to run away; ⁶  no one will be able to escape. ⁷