“Should not this ¹  abundance of words be answered, ²  or should this ³  talkative man ⁴  be vindicated? ⁵ 

“Will the one who contends ¹  with the Almighty correct him? ²  Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

Wash away my wrongdoing! ¹  Cleanse me of my sin! ² 

The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush ¹  sent up a smoke signal from the city,

“I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘This shows how ²  I will ruin the highly exalted position ³  in which Judah and Jerusalem ⁴  take pride.

The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was very happy. He said, “The Lord is worthy of praise today because he ¹  has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless against this huge army that attacks us! We don’t know what we should do; we look to you for help.” ¹ 

He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah, ¹  residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic ²  because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible ¹  goodness that you had lavished ²  on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set ³  before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

Now the Lord makes this announcement: “Within exactly three years ¹  Moab’s splendor will disappear, along with all her many people; there will be just a few, insignificant survivors left.” ²