“The rebellious ¹  children are as good as dead,” ²  says the Lord, “those who make plans without consulting me, ³  who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ⁴  and thereby compound their sin. ⁵ 

For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, ¹  and our sins testify against us; indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds; we know our sins all too well. ² 

The Lord said, ¹  “I will make Jerusalem ²  a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. ³  I will destroy the towns of Judah so that no one will be able to live in them.”

For I solemnly swear,” ¹  says the Lord, “that Bozrah ²  will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ³  All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.”

Is there idolatry ¹  in Gilead? ²  Certainly its inhabitants ³  will come to nothing! ⁴  Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

They mock kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every fortified city; they build siege ramps ¹  and capture them.

So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches ¹  against the stronghold and set fire to it. ²  All the people ³  of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.

For ¹  the burial place is already prepared; ²  it has been made deep and wide for the king. ³  The firewood is piled high on it. ⁴  The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone, will ignite it.

Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ¹  but Jacob called it Galeed. ² 

“Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. ¹ 

Now Joshua set up in Gilgal the ¹  twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.

But evil people are like thorns – all of them are tossed away, for they cannot be held in the hand.

When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and pronounced blessings on his people Israel. ¹ 

“Oh, ¹  if only my grief ²  could be weighed, ³  and my misfortune laid ⁴  on the scales too! ⁵ 

He does not allow ¹  me to recover ²  my breath, for he fills ³  me with bitterness.

The topaz of Cush ¹  cannot be compared with it; it cannot be purchased with pure gold.

The godless at heart ¹  nourish anger, ²  they do not cry out even when he binds them.

Do you know about the balancing ¹  of the clouds, that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?

He piles up the water of the sea; ¹  he puts the oceans ²  in storehouses.

Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich ¹  and his wealth multiplies! ²