When they were few in number, just a very few, and foreign residents within it,

When they were few in number, just a very few, and resident aliens within it,

for I do not know how to give honorary titles, ¹  if I did, ²  my Creator would quickly do away with me. ³ 

But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my feet almost slid out from under me. ¹ 

Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and attack ¹  their adversaries.”

If the Lord had not helped me, I would have laid down in the silence of death. ¹ 

They have almost destroyed me here on the earth, but I do not reject your precepts.

I almost ¹  came to complete ruin ²  in the midst of the whole congregation!” ³ 

What the righteous say ¹  is like ²  the best ³  silver, but what the wicked think ⁴  is of little value. ⁵ 

If the Lord who commands armies ¹  had not left us a few survivors, we would have quickly become like Sodom, ²  we would have become like Gomorrah.

Have you not copied their behavior ¹  and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time ²  you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were!

Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? ¹  One of the men ²  might easily have had sexual relations with ³  your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

I will cross the Jordan with the king and go a short distance. ¹  Why should the king reward me in this way?

Give sincere homage! ¹  Otherwise he ²  will be angry, ³  and you will die because of your behavior, ⁴  when his anger quickly ignites. ⁵  How blessed ⁶  are all who take shelter in him! ⁷ 

Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms! Close your doors behind you! Hide for a little while, until his angry judgment is over! ¹ 

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he gave this message to Shemaiah: ¹  “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will deliver them soon. ²  My anger will not be unleashed against ³  Jerusalem through ⁴  Shishak.

“But now briefly ¹  we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position ²  in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes ³  and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

Scarcely ¹  had I passed them by when I found my beloved! I held onto him ²  tightly and would not let him go ³  until I brought him to my mother’s house, ⁴  to the bedroom chamber ⁵  of the one who conceived me.