I’m exhausted! My life is spent with sorrow, my years with sighing and sadness. Because of all these troubles, I have no more strength. My inner being is so weak and frail.
The men of Ai chased them from the city gates, down the hill as far as the quarries, cutting them down as they fled. They killed thirty-six of Joshua’s men, and when Israel heard of their defeat, their hearts melted away with fear!
“Even though I am torn within, and my soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue me from this hour of trial. For I have come to fulfill my purpose —to offer myself to God.
Chase them away—all these God-haters. Blow them away as a puff of smoke. Melt them away like wax in the fire. One good look at you and the wicked vanish.
He prayed even more passionately, like one being sacrificed, until he was in such intense agony of spirit that his sweat became drops of blood, dripping onto the ground.
They open their mouths with ugly grins, gloating with glee over my every fault. “Look,” they say, “we caught him red-handed! We saw him fall with our own eyes!”