Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ¹  Simeon is gone. ²  And now you want to take ³  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

No! ¹  Go, you men ²  only, and serve the Lord, for that ³  is what you want.” ⁴  Then Moses and Aaron ⁵  were driven ⁶  out of Pharaoh’s presence.

However, if the servant ¹  says to you, “I do not want to leave ²  you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you,

Then the elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, “I don’t want to marry her,”

Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?” ¹  Hadad replied, ²  “Nothing, but please give me permission to leave.” ³ 

He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon ¹  or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.” ² 

Teach me how you want me to live; ¹  lead me along a level path ²  because of those who wait to ambush me! ³ 

May those who want to harm me be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ¹  May those who arrogantly taunt me be covered with shame and humiliation! ² 

Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ¹  those who want to harm me speak destructive words; all day long they say deceitful things.

May those who are trying to snatch away my life be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ¹  May those who want to harm me be turned back and ashamed! ² 

I am surrounded by lions; I lie down ¹  among those who want to devour me; ²  men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are a sharp sword. ³ 

May those who are trying to take my life be embarrassed and ashamed! ¹  May those who want to harm me be turned back and ashamed! ² 

All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice, for those who want to harm me ¹  will be embarrassed and ashamed. ² 

I desperately want to be ¹  in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ²  My heart and my entire being ³  shout for joy to the living God.

O Lord, teach me how you want me to live! ¹  Then I will obey your commands. ²  Make me wholeheartedly committed to you! ³ 

Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. ¹  Say, ²  ‘Here we are. We come to you because you are the Lord our God.

But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! ¹  We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’” ² 

I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals. ¹ 

King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. ¹  For I cannot do anything to stop you.” ² 

This day ¹  I have told you what he said. ²  But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. ³