They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us.”

They told him, “Your subjects ¹  have come from a very distant land because of the reputation ²  of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt ³ 

¹ Joshua summoned the Gibeonites ²  and said to them, “Why did you trick ³  us by saying, ‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby? ⁴ 

And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ¹  Is this your usual way of dealing with men, ²  O Lord God?

“Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation. ¹ 

¹ Certainly you must have heard! ²  Long ago I worked it out, In ancient times I planned ³  it; and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins. ⁴ 

And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ¹  You have revealed to me what men long to know, ²  O Lord God.

People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly ¹  that the sound was heard a long way off.

Mordecai wrote these matters down and sent letters to all the Jews who were throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

But when they gazed intently ¹  from a distance but did not recognize ²  him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. ³ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ²  a psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ³  I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ⁴ 

Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your disaster; a neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away. ¹ 

You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool – but you did not trust in ¹  the one who made it; ²  you did not depend on ³  the one who formed it long ago!

O Lord, you are my God! ¹  I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. ²  For you have done extraordinary things, and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. ³ 

¹ Certainly you must have heard! ²  Long ago I worked it out, in ancient times I planned ³  it, and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins. ⁴ 

Listen to me, you coastlands! ¹  Pay attention, you people who live far away! The Lord summoned me from birth; ²  he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ³ 

Justice is driven back; godliness ¹  stands far off. Indeed, ²  honesty stumbles in the city square and morality is not even able to enter.

Look all around you! ¹  They all gather and come to you – your sons come from far away and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

You who have escaped the sword, ¹  go, do not delay. ²  Remember the Lord in a faraway land. Think about Jerusalem. ³ 

The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these ¹  will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them.