They ¹  utter empty words, ²  taking ³  false oaths and making empty ⁴  agreements. Therefore legal disputes sprout up like poisonous weeds ⁵  in the furrows of a plowed field.

The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; ¹  her inhabitants lie, ²  their tongues speak deceptive words. ³ 

When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he ¹  said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well.

whenever a prophet speaks in my ¹  name and the prediction ²  is not fulfilled, ³  then I have ⁴  not spoken it; ⁵  the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”

When Joseph’s ¹  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ²  they hated Joseph ³  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ⁴ 

Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘In the tenth day of this month they each ¹  must take a lamb ²  for themselves according to their families ³  – a lamb for each household. ⁴ 

“Tell the Israelites: ‘This is the kind of creature you may eat from among all the animals ¹  that are on the land.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man ¹  has a discharge ²  from his body, ³  his discharge is unclean.

The leaders then added, ¹  “Let them live.” So they became ²  woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided. ³ 

The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!”

They ¹  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!” and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ²  Tell us nice things, relate deceptive messages. ³ 

Hear the word of the Lord, you who respect what he has to say! ¹  Your countrymen, ²  who hate you and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name, say, “May the Lord be glorified, then we will witness your joy.” ³  But they will be put to shame.

You must no longer say that the Lord’s message is burdensome. ¹  For what is ‘burdensome’ ²  really pertains to what a person himself says. ³  You are misrepresenting ⁴  the words of our God, the living God, the Lord who rules over all. ⁵ 

We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ²  and to all the inhabitants ³  of the land as well.

Woe to them! For they have fled from me! Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me! I want to deliver ¹  them, but they have lied to me.

These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. ¹ 

When the days of mourning ¹  had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, ²  “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, ³ 

If a man ¹  makes a vow ²  to the Lord or takes an oath ³  of binding obligation on himself, ⁴  he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. ⁵ 

When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders and clan leaders who accompanied him heard the defense of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites, ¹  they were satisfied. ² 

“Tell ¹  all the leaders of Shechem this: ‘Why would you want ²  to have seventy men, all Jerub-Baal’s sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.’” ³