<p class="poetry">Do not make friends with an angry person,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and do not associate with a wrathful person,p>

You will be free from your oath<n id="1" /> if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.&#8217;

<p class="bodytext">Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came.<n id="1" /> Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother.<n id="2" />

The midwives said to Pharaoh, &#8220;Because the Hebrew<n id="1" /> women are not like the Egyptian women &#8211; for the Hebrew women<n id="2" /> are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!&#8221;<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">When<n id="1" /> you enter the land that the <sc>Lordsc> your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it,

You will see the land before you, but you will not enter the land that I am giving to the Israelites.&#8221;p>

Micah said to him, &#8220;Where do you come from?&#8221; He replied, &#8220;I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.&#8221;<n id="1" />

When he looked up and saw the traveler<n id="1" /> in the town square, the old man said, &#8220;Where are you heading? Where do you come from?&#8221;

The residents of Jebus said to David, &#8220;You cannot invade this place!&#8221; But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

<p class="poetry">In my distress I called to the <sc>Lordsc>;p> <p class="poetry">I cried out to my God.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">From his heavenly temple<n id="2" /> he heard my voice;p> <p class="poetry">he listened to my cry for help.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the <sc>Lord.sc>p> <p class="poetry">O <sc>Lordsc>, hear my prayer!p> <p class="poetry">Pay attention to my cry for help!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Do not forsake your friend and your father&#8217;s friend,p> <p class="poetry">and do not enter your brother&#8217;s house in the day of your disaster;p> <p class="poetry">a neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away.<n id="1" />p>

They will stay away from all the hills that were cultivated, for fear of the thorns and briers.<n id="1" /> Cattle will graze there and sheep will trample on them.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">What will you do on judgment day,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when destruction arrives from a distant place?p> <p class="poetry">To whom will you run for help?p> <p class="poetry">Where will you leave your wealth?p>

<p class="poetry">I announced them to you beforehand;p> <p class="poetry">before they happened, I predicted them for you,p> <p class="poetry">so you could never say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;My image did these things,p> <p class="poetry">my idol, my cast image, decreed them.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;These people have denied what the <sc>Lordsc> says.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They have said, &#8216;That is not so!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">No harm will come to us.p> <p class="poetry">We will not experience war and famine.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I take no delight<n id="1" /> when they offer up to me<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">frankincense that comes from Shebap> <p class="poetry">or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.p> <p class="poetry">I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.p> <p class="poetry">I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.&#8217;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They continually say<n id="1" /> to those who reject what the <sc>Lordsc> has said,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Things will go well for you!&#8217;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Nothing bad will happen to you!&#8217;p>

Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders.

&#8220;Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt,<n id="1" /> but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears.