When they were few in number, just a very few, and foreign residents within it,

When they were few in number, just a very few, and resident aliens within it,

for I do not know how to give honorary titles, if I did, my Creator would quickly do away with me.

But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my feet almost slid out from under me.

Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and attack their adversaries.”

If the Lord had not helped me, I would have laid down in the silence of death.

They have almost destroyed me here on the earth, but I do not reject your precepts.

I almost came to complete ruin in the midst of the whole congregation!”

What the righteous say is like the best silver, but what the wicked think is of little value.

If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors, we would have quickly become like Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah.

Have you not copied their behavior and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were!

Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? One of the men might easily have had sexual relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

I will cross the Jordan with the king and go a short distance. Why should the king reward me in this way?

Give sincere homage! Otherwise he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger quickly ignites. How blessed are all who take shelter in him!

Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms! Close your doors behind you! Hide for a little while, until his angry judgment is over!

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will deliver them soon. My anger will not be unleashed against Jerusalem through Shishak.

“But now briefly we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

Scarcely had I passed them by when I found my beloved! I held onto him tightly and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house, to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me.