&#8220;Listen, sir,<n id="1" /> you are a mighty prince<n id="2" /> among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you<n id="3" /> from burying your dead.&#8221;p>

Stay there<n id="1" /> until your brother&#8217;s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I&#8217;ll send someone to bring you back from there.<n id="2" /> Why should I lose both of you in one day?&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">When the <sc>Lordsc> your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you &#8211; Hittites,<n id="1" /> Girgashites,<n id="2" /> Amorites,<n id="3" /> Canaanites,<n id="4" /> Perizzites,<n id="5" /> Hivites,<n id="6" /> and Jebusites,<n id="7" /> seven<n id="8" /> nations more numerous and powerful than you &#8211;

If the place he<n id="1" /> chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he<n id="2" /> has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages<n id="3" /> just as you wish.

<t /><p class="bodytext">If a matter is too difficult for you to judge &#8211; bloodshed,<n id="1" /> legal claim,<n id="2" /> or assault<n id="3" /> &#8211; matters of controversy in your villages<n id="4" /> &#8211; you must leave there and go up to the place the <sc>Lordsc> your God chooses.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry<n id="1" /> and troops<n id="2" /> who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the <sc>Lordsc> your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

<p class="bodytext">Even before they burned the fat, the priest&#8217;s attendant would come and say to the person who was making the sacrifice, &#8220;Hand over some meat for the priest to roast! He won&#8217;t take boiled meat from you, but only raw.&#8221;<n id="1" />

When I send a boy after them, I will say, &#8220;Go and find the arrows.&#8221; If I say to the boy, &#8216;Look, the arrows are on this side of you;<n id="1" /> get them,&#8217; then come back. For as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives, you will be safe and there will no problem.

How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools<n id="1" /> in Israel! Just<n id="2" /> speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.&#8221;

but have instead followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. You encouraged the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the <sc>Lordsc>, just as the family of Ahab does in Israel.<n id="1" /> You also killed your brothers, members of your father&#8217;s family,<n id="2" /> who were better than you.

&#8216;Oh, Lord <sc>Godsc>,<n id="1" /> you did indeed<n id="2" /> make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength.<n id="3" /> Nothing is too hard for you!

So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior.<n id="1" /> Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.p>

<t /><p class="poetry"><v id="(5:1)" /> As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">seemingly insignificant<n id="2" /> among the clans of Judah &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">one whose origins<n id="4" /> are in the distant past.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">He has told you, O man, what is good,p> <p class="poetry">and what the <sc>Lordsc> really wants from you:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He wants you to<n id="2" /> promote<n id="3" /> justice, to be faithful,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and to live obediently before<n id="5" /> your God.p>

The men of Israel replied to the men of Judah, &#8220;We have ten shares in the king, and we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want<n id="1" /> to curse us? Weren&#8217;t we the first to suggest bringing back our king?&#8221; But the comments of the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel.p>