So I went to Perath and dug up ¹  the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found ²  that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.

The sons of Eli were wicked men. ¹  They did not recognize the Lord’s authority. ² 

Your maxims ¹  are proverbs of ashes; ²  your defenses ³  are defenses of clay. ⁴ 

A worthless and wicked person ¹  walks around saying perverse ²  things; ³ 

A wicked scoundrel ¹  digs up ²  evil, and his slander ³  is like a scorching fire. ⁴ 

“It’s worthless! It’s worthless!” ¹  says the buyer, ²  but when he goes on his way, he boasts. ³ 

The people of those nations ¹  are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ² 

These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. ¹  They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance ²  to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So ³  they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.

Lawless good-for-nothing men ¹  gathered around him and conspired ²  against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was an inexperienced young man ³  and could not resist them.

“You are the salt ¹  of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, ²  how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.

As he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Leave! Leave! You man of bloodshed, you wicked man! ¹ 

Moreover, the strength of their ¹  hands – what use was it to me? Men whose strength ²  had perished;

A crooked witness ¹  scorns justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours ²  iniquity.

The one who works his land will be satisfied with food, ¹  but whoever chases daydreams ²  will have his fill ³  of poverty.

With bow and arrow ¹  men will hunt ²  there, for the whole land will be covered ³  with thorns and briers.

The nations will be burned to ashes; ¹  like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.

And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“Salt ¹  is good, but if salt loses its flavor, ²  how can its flavor be restored?

So Jephthah left ¹  his half-brothers ²  and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. ³ 

Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman, ¹  for until now I have spoken from my deep pain and anguish.”