But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor.

and they made the Israelites serve rigorously.

It is terrible to punish a righteous person, and to flog honorable men is wrong.

King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty. If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.” So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

י (Yod) Let a person sit alone in silence, when the Lord is disciplining him.

They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.

They will sing this lament over you: “‘How you have perished – you have vanished from the seas, O renowned city, once mighty in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror!

But you must require of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.’

The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan and built there, near the Jordan, an impressive altar.

But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful force.

The ships of Tarshish were the transports for your merchandise. “‘So you were filled and weighed down in the heart of the seas.

For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules:

“If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.

But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says ‘Fool’ will be sent to fiery hell.

“Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”

He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?”

“Your father made us work too hard! Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”

He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?”

The Lord said, “Jerusalem, I will surely send you away for your own good. I will surely bring the enemy upon you in a time of trouble and distress.

Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, I will soon gather them together for judgment. Then they will begin to waste away under the oppression of a mighty king.