<p class="poetry">Egypt will be desolatep> <p class="poetry">and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,p> <p class="poetry">because of the violence they did to the people of Judah,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">in whose land they shed innocent blood.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the <sc>Lordsc> is proclaiming against<n id="1" /> you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up<n id="2" /> from the land of Egypt:

<p class="poetry">Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Make a public display of your voluntary offerings!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For you love to do this, you Israelites.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">The sovereign <sc>Lordsc> is speaking!p>

<p class="poetry">So the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> will hand the people of Israel<n id="2" /> over to their enemies<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">until the time when the woman in labor<n id="4" /> gives birth.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">Then the rest of the king&#8217;s<n id="6" /> countrymen will returnp> <p class="poetry">to be reunited with the people of Israel.<n id="7" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;On the day of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s sacrificial meal,p> <p class="poetry">I will punish the princes<n id="1" /> and the king&#8217;s sons,p> <p class="poetry">and all who wear foreign styles of clothing.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I have heard Moab&#8217;s tauntsp> <p class="poetry">and the Ammonites&#8217; insults.p> <p class="poetry">They<n id="1" /> taunted my peoplep> <p class="poetry">and verbally harassed those living in Judah.<n id="2" />p>

He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the <sc>Lordsc> a proper offering.

<p class="bodytext">When all the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how the <sc>Lordsc> had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites while they<n id="1" /> crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites.<n id="2" />p>

So the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and headed home to their own land in Gilead,<n id="1" /> which they acquired by the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s command through Moses.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The Israelites again did evil in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s sight.<n id="1" /> They worshiped<n id="2" /> the Baals and the Ashtars,<n id="3" /> as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon,<n id="4" /> Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines.<n id="5" /> They abandoned the <sc>Lordsc> and did not worship<n id="6" /> him.

<p class="bodytext">When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them,<n id="1" /> they<n id="2" /> sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah,<n id="3" /> in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob.<n id="4" />p>

may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed<n id="1" /> against you &#8211; both I myself and my family<n id="2" /> have sinned.

<p class="bodytext">The Nephilim<n id="1" /> were on the earth in those days (and also after this)<n id="2" /> when the sons of God were having sexual relations with<n id="3" /> the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children.<n id="4" /> They were the mighty heroes<n id="5" /> of old, the famous men.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">So Abraham agreed to Ephron&#8217;s price<n id="1" /> and weighed<n id="2" /> out for him<n id="3" /> the price<n id="4" /> that Ephron had quoted<n id="5" /> in the hearing of the sons of Heth &#8211; 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Isaac replied to Esau, &#8220;Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?&#8221;

But Leah replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Wasn&#8217;t it enough that you&#8217;ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son&#8217;s mandrakes too?&#8221; &#8220;All right,&#8221;<n id="2" /> Rachel said, &#8220;he may sleep<n id="3" /> with you tonight in exchange for your son&#8217;s mandrakes.&#8221;

When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, &#8220;You must sleep<n id="1" /> with me because I have paid for your services<n id="2" /> with my son&#8217;s mandrakes.&#8221; So he had marital relations<n id="3" /> with her that night.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Jacob heard that Laban&#8217;s sons were complaining,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich<n id="2" /> at our father&#8217;s expense!&#8221;<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">Laban replied<n id="1" /> to Jacob, &#8220;These women<n id="2" /> are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren,<n id="3" /> and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today<n id="4" /> or the children to whom they have given birth?

That is why to this day<n id="1" /> the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck<n id="2" /> the socket of Jacob&#8217;s hip near the attached sinew.p>