(They gave their word ¹  to send away their wives; their guilt offering was a ram from the flock for their guilt.)

The woman said, “Why have you devised something like this against God’s people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished.

They said to one other, ¹  “Surely we’re being punished ²  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ³  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁴  has come on us!”