Turn and flee! Take up refuge in remote places, ¹  you people who live in Dedan. ²  For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau. I have decided it is time for me to punish them. ³ 

Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the foreigners, ¹  Libya, and the people ²  of the covenant land ³  will die by the sword along with them.

He will then turn his attention to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, not to be found again.

Fast runners will find no place to hide; ¹  strong men will have no strength left; ²  warriors will not be able to save their lives.

But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, ¹  and it will be a holy place once again. The descendants ²  of Jacob will conquer ³  those who had conquered them. ⁴ 

They ¹  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ² 

and then you are careful to observe all these commandments ¹  I am giving ²  you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities ³  to these three.

The one who committed manslaughter ¹  should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city. ²  They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there. ³ 

When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported ¹  Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ²  ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. ³ 

Please let the Moabite fugitives live ¹  among you. Hide them ²  from the destroyer!” Certainly ³  the one who applies pressure will cease, ⁴  the destroyer will come to an end, those who trample will disappear ⁵  from the earth.

Look at the land of the Chaldeans, these people who have lost their identity! ¹  The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, ²  demolished ³  its fortresses, and turned it into a heap of ruins. ⁴ 

They will surrender their stronghold ¹  because of fear; ²  their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.” ³  This is what the Lord says – the one whose fire is in Zion, whose firepot is in Jerusalem. ⁴ 

What do I see?” ¹  says the Lord. ²  “The soldiers ³  are terrified. They are retreating. They have been defeated. They are overcome with terror; ⁴  they desert quickly without looking back.

The Lord says, ¹  “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor. ²  Take up refuge in remote places. ³  For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you. He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.” ⁴ 

“And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take ¹  from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, ²  as well as their sons and daughters: ³ 

Your presumptuous heart ¹  has deceived you – you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs, ²  whose home is high in the mountains. ³  You think to yourself, ⁴  ‘No one can ⁵  bring me down to the ground!’ ⁶ 

Suppose he goes with someone else ¹  to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax ²  to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose ³  from the handle and strikes ⁴  his fellow worker ⁵  so hard that he dies. The person responsible ⁶  may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. ⁷ 

Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, ¹  and kill him, ²  though this is not a capital case ³  since he did not hate him at the time of the accident.

For the music director; a well-written song ²  by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.” ³  Why do you boast about your evil plans, ⁴  O powerful man? God’s loyal love protects me all day long! ⁵