<t /><p class="poetry">Bunch yourselves together like straw,<n id="1" /> you undesirable<n id="2" /> nation,p>

You are bound for judgment<n id="1" /> because you are robbing me &#8211; this whole nation is guilty.<n id="2" />p>

But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve.<n id="1" /> Afterward they will come out with many possessions.

<p class="bodytext">Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, &#8220;Lord,<n id="1" /> would you really slaughter an innocent nation?<n id="2" />

So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it<n id="1" /> just as it has vomited out the nations<n id="2" /> that were before you.

When all the men<n id="1" /> had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed.

<p class="poetry">How blessed<n id="1" /> is the nation whose God is the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="1" /> nations or kingdoms that do not serve you will perish;p> <p class="poetry">such nations will be totally destroyed.<n id="2" />p>

But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

You must not walk in the statutes of the nation<n id="1" /> which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them.

<t /><p class="bodytext">When the entire nation was on the other side,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> told Joshua,

As they approached him,<n id="1" /> Elisha prayed to the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;Strike these people<n id="2" /> with blindness.&#8221;<n id="3" /> The <sc>Lordsc><n id="4" /> struck them with blindness as Elisha requested.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">You<n id="1" /> have enlarged the nation;p> <p class="poetry">you give them great joy.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They rejoice in your presencep> <p class="poetry">as harvesters rejoice;p> <p class="poetry">as warriors celebrate<n id="3" /> when they divide up the plunder.p>

So tell them: &#8216;This is a nation that has not obeyed the <sc>Lordsc> their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore.<n id="1" />

But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong,<n id="1" /> I will cancel the destruction<n id="2" /> I intended to do to it.

There is no reason why you and your people should die in war<n id="1" /> or from starvation or disease!<n id="2" /> That&#8217;s what the <sc>Lordsc> says will happen to any nation<n id="3" /> that will not be subject to the king of Babylon.

<p class="poetry">Look, I am about to empower<n id="1" /> the Babylonians,p> <p class="poetry">that ruthless<n id="2" /> and greedy<n id="3" /> nation.p> <p class="poetry">They sweep across the surface<n id="4" /> of the earth,p> <p class="poetry">seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.p>

But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to<n id="1" /> him. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm that<n id="2" /> I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it<n id="3" /> with war,<n id="4" /> starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it.<n id="5" />

Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me<n id="1" /> your way, that I may know you,<n id="2" /> that I may continue to find<n id="3" /> favor in your sight. And see<n id="4" /> that this nation is your people.&#8221;p>

So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding<n id="1" /> to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, &#8220;Indeed, this great nation is a very wise<n id="2" /> people.&#8221;