צָרַר

So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing.

But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

You must not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is still alive.

When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies.

“Attack the Midianites and strike them dead.

For they assailed you deceitfully when they seduced you in the matter of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of the Midianite leader, the woman who was killed on the day the plague came because of Peor.”

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.

They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.

…acted deceptively and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.

And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” “I am deeply distressed,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer slept with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.

When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him.

In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.

And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.

So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

That same day King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her.

They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.

He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.

My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes.

…if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,

Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.

From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger.

He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.

Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends—they flee when they see me on the street.

Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

But I will sing of Your strength and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning. For You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!

You know my reproach, my shame and disgrace. All my adversaries are before You.

Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,

Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.

Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call.

A song of ascents. Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth—let Israel now declare—

…many a time they have persecuted me from my youth, but they have not prevailed against me.

And in Your loving devotion, cut off my enemies. Destroy all who afflict me, for I am Your servant.

Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!

Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.

Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, and the adversaries of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will no longer envy Judah, nor will Judah harass Ephraim.

Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too small to wrap around you.

For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, at this time I will sling out the inhabitants of the land and bring distress upon them so that they may be captured.”

Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

The whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.