LXX Concordance for αὐτοῖς

When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them,

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

These are the family records of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.

They said to each other, “Come, let's make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.)

In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and lined up for battle in the Siddim Valley

Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

“And to you and your future offspring[fn] I will give the land where you are residing ​— ​all the land of Canaan ​— ​as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”

He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground,

Then Abraham took curds[fn] and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served[fn] them as they ate under the tree.

The two angels entered Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in Sodom's gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground

But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.

They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them! ”

“and I will have you swear by the LORD, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,

A meal was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”

So Laban said, “Please speak.”

Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them.

Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”

So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank.

Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from? ”

“We're from Haran,” they answered.

While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats ​— ​every one that had any white on it ​— ​and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them.

Now Rachel had taken Laban's household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing.

He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now.

Jacob's sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved and very angry, for Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob's daughter, and such a thing should not be done.

But Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah.

“These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let's take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them.

“Won't their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let's agree with them, and they will live with us.”

He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had:

Reuben also said to them, “Don't shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him” ​— ​intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father.

she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could.

The captain of the guards assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant, and they were in custody for some time.[fn]

“We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don't interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

But Pharaoh hanged[fn] the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them.

When morning came, he was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.

“Where do you come from? ” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness[fn] of the land.”

“No,” he said to them. “You have come to see the weakness of the land.”

Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken:[fn] ‘You are spies! '

On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God ​— ​do this and you will live.

But Reuben replied, “Didn't I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn't listen. Now we must account for his blood! ”[fn]

He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them:

Their father Jacob said to them, “It's me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me! ”

When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift ​— ​a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds.

Then the steward said, “May you be well. Don't be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive? ”

They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them.

They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Get up. Pursue the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

When he overtook them, he said these words to them.

“What have you done? ” Joseph said to them. “Didn't you know that a man like me could uncover the truth by divination? ”

Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept,[fn] and afterward his brothers talked with him.

“You are also commanded to tell them, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your dependents and your wives and bring your father here.

The sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them provisions for the journey.

So Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Don't argue[fn] on the way.”

They said, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt! ” Jacob was stunned,[fn] for he did not believe them.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,

Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

Joseph collected all the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were purchasing, and he brought the silver to Pharaoh's palace.

But Joseph said, “Give me your livestock. Since the silver is gone, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.”

The only land he did not acquire belonged to the priests, for they had an allowance from Pharaoh. They ate from their allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

“At harvest, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your households, and your dependents.”

So Joseph made it a law, still in effect today in the land of Egypt, that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests' land does not belong to Pharaoh.

the angel who has redeemed me from all harm —

may he bless these boys.

And may they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they grow to be numerous within the land.

These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

“‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers' transgression and their sin ​— ​the suffering they caused you.' Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when their message came to him.

But Joseph said to them, “Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God?

“Therefore don't be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.[fn]

So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

God saw the Israelites, and God knew.

“But when I stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles that I will perform in it, after that, he will let you go.

The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your labor! ”

“But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers ​— ​that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the LORD.'

When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.

“I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the LORD.'[fn]

Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

It was this Aaron and Moses whom the LORD told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.”

So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the LORD commanded them.

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

However, Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood.

Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “The LORD is the righteous one, and I and my people are the guilty ones.

“and so that you may tell[fn] your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am the LORD.”

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going? ”

The LORD gave[fn] the people favor with the Egyptians. In addition, Moses himself was very highly regarded[fn] in the land of Egypt by[fn] Pharaoh's officials and the people.

“They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them.

“you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, and he spared our homes.' ” So the people knelt low and worshiped.

He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get out immediately from among my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship the LORD as you have said.

The Israelites acted on Moses's word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold items and for clothing.

A mixed crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds.

The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night.

and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.

But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.

But they didn't listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Therefore Moses was angry with them.

So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn't stink or have maggots in it.

So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.”

“Why are you complaining to me? ” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the LORD? ”

Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships that confronted them on the way, and how the LORD rescued them.

“Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because he did wonders when the Egyptians acted arrogantly against Israel.”[fn]

“Whenever they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I make a decision between one man and another. I teach them God's statutes and laws.”

“Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do.

After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers' iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

Moses responded to the people, “Don't be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not[fn] sin.”

“Do not make gods of silver to rival me; do not make gods of gold for yourselves.

“Do not bow in worship to their gods, and do not serve them. Do not imitate their practices. Instead, demolish them[fn] and smash their sacred pillars to pieces.

“You must not make a covenant with them or their gods.

The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.”

“Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them.

“The rings should be next to the frame as holders for the poles to carry the table.

“Make five pillars of acacia wood for the screen and overlay them with gold; their hooks are to be gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them.

“Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel's sons:

“It will be on Aaron's forehead so that Aaron may bear the guilt connected with the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate as all their holy gifts. It is always to be on his forehead, so that they may find acceptance with the LORD.

“Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron's sons to give them glory and beauty.

“Make them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist to the thighs.

“This is what you are to do for them to consecrate them to serve me as priests. Take a young bull and two unblemished rams,

“Tie the sashes on Aaron and his sons and fasten headbands on them. The priesthood is to be theirs by a permanent statute. This is the way you will ordain Aaron and[fn] his sons.

“The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they can be anointed and ordained[fn] in them.

“And they will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

“When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for his life to the LORD as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered.

“They must wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this is to be a permanent statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”

“As for the incense you are making, you must not make any for yourselves using its formula. It is to be regarded by you as holy ​— ​belonging to the LORD.

Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”

“They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.' ”

“So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,' and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf! ”

He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.' ”

“Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.”

But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.

Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled[fn] people are to work based on everything the LORD has commanded. The LORD has given them wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

The materials were sufficient for them to do all the work. There was more than enough.

He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark for carrying the ark.

He cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings to the four corners at its four legs.

He constructed for the altar a grate of bronze mesh under its ledge,[fn] halfway up from the bottom.

“Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve me as priests. Their anointing will serve to inaugurate a permanent priesthood for them throughout their generations.”

“then the assembly must present a young bull as a sin offering. They are to bring it before the tent of meeting when the sin they have committed in regard to the command becomes known.

“He is to offer this bull just as he did with the bull in the sin offering; he will offer it the same way. So the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.

“It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion from my food offerings. It is especially holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

The LORD commanded this to be given to them by the Israelites on the day he anointed them. It is a permanent portion throughout their generations.

Then Moses presented Aaron's sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them, and fastened headbands on them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them to do.

Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here and carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.”

“When a man or woman has a condition on the head or chin,

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any man has a discharge from his member, he is unclean.

“You must keep the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling my tabernacle that is among them.

“He will make atonement for the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites' impurities and rebellious acts. He will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities.

“The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its iniquity, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.

“If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman who is a slave designated for another man, but she has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be punishment.[fn] They are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.

“Do not turn to mediums[fn] or consult spiritists,[fn] or you will be defiled by them; I am the LORD your God.

“Say to them: If any man from any of your descendants throughout your generations is in a state of uncleanness yet approaches the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person will be cut off from my presence; I am the LORD.

“Do not make worthless idols for yourselves, set up a carved image or sacred pillar for yourselves, or place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.

“Yet in spite of this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or abhor them so as to destroy them and break my covenant with them, since I am the LORD their God.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When someone makes a special vow to the LORD that involves the assessment of people,

But the Levites were not registered among the Israelites, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

But Nadab and Abihu died in the LORD's presence when they presented unauthorized fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests under the direction of Aaron their father.

So Moses registered them in obedience to the LORD as he had been commanded:

“Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are in excess among the Israelites.”

“Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and transportation duty.

“Send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.”

“He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, while the mark of consecration to his God is on his head.

“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. You should say to them,

“Do this to them for their purification: Sprinkle them with the purification water. Have them shave their entire bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.

Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community did this to the Levites. The Israelites did everything to them the LORD commanded Moses regarding the Levites.

After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. So they did to them as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.

They set out from the mountain of the LORD on a three-day journey with the ark of the LORD's covenant traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

Now the people began complaining openly before[fn] the LORD about hardship. When the LORD heard, his anger burned, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.

So that place was named Taberah,[fn] because the LORD's fire had blazed among them.

But Moses replied, “I'm in the middle of a people with six hundred thousand foot soldiers, yet you say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.'

The LORD's anger burned against them, and he left.

The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land.

The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them?

“‘Since the LORD wasn't able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.'

“Please pardon the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of your faithful love, just as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now.”

“Tell them: As I live ​— ​this is the LORD's declaration ​— ​I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.

“The priest will then make atonement for the entire Israelite community so that they may be forgiven, for the sin was unintentional. They are to bring their offering, a food offering to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD for their unintentional sin.

“You are to have the same law for the person who acts in error, whether he is an Israelite or an alien who resides among you.

They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have gone too far! Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the LORD's assembly? ”

“Korah, you and all your followers are to do this: take firepans, and tomorrow

“Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the Israelite community to bring you near to himself, to perform the work at the LORD's tabernacle, and to stand before the community to minister to them?

He warned the community, “Get away now from the tents of these wicked men. Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”

“But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them along with all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD.”

The LORD told Aaron, “You will not have an inheritance in their land; there will be no portion among them for you. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

“For I have given them the tenth that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution for their inheritance. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.”

“Take the staff and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will yield its water. You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock.”

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”

From there they went to Beer,[fn] the well the LORD told Moses about, “Gather the people so I may give them water.”

Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan came out against them with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.

God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”

“Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with my zeal,[fn] so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my zeal.

Those registered were 23,000, every male one month old or more; they were not registered among the other Israelites, because no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

For the LORD had said to them that they would all die in the wilderness. None of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Moses, the priest Eleazar, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.

“Have you let every female live? ” he asked them.

“Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land the LORD has given them?

“After they went up as far as Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the LORD had given them.

“Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance will be across the Jordan to the east.”

“Build cities for your dependents and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

So Moses gave orders about them to the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes.

So Moses gave them ​— ​the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph ​— ​the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land including its cities with the territories surrounding them.

“This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Mount Hor;

“For your eastern border, draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham.

“The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals.

“designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

“See, I have set the land before you. Enter and take possession of the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their future descendants.'

“But the LORD said to me, ‘Tell them: Don't go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from being defeated by your enemies.'

The Horites had previously lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out, destroying them completely[fn] and settling in their place, just as Israel did in the land of its possession the LORD gave them.

“The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley was thirty-eight years until the entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

“When you get close to the Ammonites, don't show any hostility to them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the Ammonites' land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.' ”

“until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession that I have given you.

“But commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit this land that you will see.'

“For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call to him?

“He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them by oath, because the LORD your God is a compassionate God.

“If only they had such a heart to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that they and their children would prosper forever.

“Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their carved images.

“But he directly pays back[fn] and destroys those who hate him. He will not hesitate to pay back directly[fn] the one who hates him.

“You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

“If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish.

“The LORD said to me, ‘Get up and go down immediately from here. For your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast image for themselves.'

“Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, ‘Because the LORD wasn't able to bring them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.'

“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to give their ancestors.'

“and so that you may live long in the land the LORD swore to your ancestors to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods.

“so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.

“be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I'll also do the same.'

“and has gone to serve other gods by bowing in worship to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky ​— ​which I have forbidden ​— ​

“Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, the LORD is his inheritance, as he promised him.

“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

“the two people in the dispute are to stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and judges in authority at that time.

“LORD, wipe away the guilt of your people Israel whom you redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.' Then the responsibility for bloodshed will be wiped away from them.

“Make tassels on the four corners of the outer garment you wear.

“Never pursue their welfare or prosperity as long as you live.

“The children born to them in the third generation may enter the LORD's assembly.

“Look down from your holy dwelling, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Do not turn aside to the right or the left from all the things I am commanding you today, and do not follow other gods to worship them.

These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

“You saw their abhorrent images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them.

“They began to serve other gods, bowing in worship to gods they had not known ​— ​gods that the LORD had not permitted them to worship.

“But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them,

“love the LORD your God, obey him, and remain faithful[fn] to him. For he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you live in the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

“The LORD will deal with them as he did Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he destroyed them.

Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with[fn] this people into the land the LORD swore to give to their ancestors. You will enable them to take possession of it.

Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of debt cancellation, during the Festival of Shelters,

The LORD said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon me and break the covenant I have made with them.

“When I bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper.[fn] They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising me and breaking my covenant.

The LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

“Assemble all your tribal elders and officers before me so that I may speak these words directly to them and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.

He said, “I will hide my face from them;

I will see what will become of them,

for they are a perverse generation —

unfaithful children.

Israel is a nation lacking sense

with no understanding at all.

For their vine is from the vine of Sodom

and from the fields of Gomorrah.

Their grapes are poisonous;

their clusters are bitter.

He will say, “Where are their gods,

the ‘rock' they found refuge in?

“Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites.

“Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance.

“Your wives, dependents, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But your best soldiers must cross over in battle formation[fn] ahead of your brothers and help them

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn't know where they were from.

“that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”

“Go to the hill country so that the men pursuing you won't find you,” she said to them. “Hide there for three days until they return; afterward, go on your way.”

“Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window.

Then the men returned, came down from the hill country, and crossed the Jordan. They went to Joshua son of Nun and reported everything that had happened to them.

“and command them: Take twelve stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests[fn] are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the LORD your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes,

The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh went in battle formation in front of the Israelites, as Moses had instructed them.

When all the Amorite kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea heard how the LORD had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, they lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.

He said to the troops, “Move forward, march around the city, and have the armed men go ahead of the ark of the LORD.”

He commanded them, “Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready.

When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city.

So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.

But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

This is what Joshua did to them: he rescued them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them.

So Adoni-zedek and his people were[fn] greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors.

As they fled before Israel, the LORD threw large hailstones on them from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.

Joshua treated them as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.

For it was the LORD's intention to harden their hearts, so that they would engage Israel in battle, be completely destroyed without mercy, and be annihilated, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

He did not, however, give any inheritance to the tribe of Levi. This was their inheritance, just as he had promised: the food offerings made to the LORD, the God of Israel.

The Israelites received these portions that the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes gave them in the land of Canaan.

because Moses had given the inheritance to the two and a half tribes beyond the Jordan. But he gave no inheritance among them to the Levites.

Ephraim's territory was to the south and Manasseh's to the north, with the Sea as its border. They reached Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.

“If you have so many people,” Joshua replied to them, “go to the forest and clear an area for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, because Ephraim's hill country is too small for you.”

“Then they are to divide it into seven portions. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south and Joseph's family in their territory in the north.

“But the Levites among you do not get a portion, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the LORD. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses the LORD's servant gave them.”

Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of the LORD where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

When the territory of the descendants of Dan slipped out of their control, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and struck it down with the sword. So they took possession of it, lived there, and renamed Leshem after their ancestor Dan.

When they had finished distributing the land into its territories, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them.

These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and the aliens residing among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.

They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron; Arba was the father of Anak) with its surrounding pasturelands in the hill country of Judah.

The Israelites gave them:

Shechem, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,

and told them, “You have done everything Moses the LORD's servant commanded you and have obeyed me in everything I commanded you.

“Now that he has given your brothers rest, just as he promised them, return to your homes in your own land that Moses the LORD's servant gave you across the Jordan.

When the priest Phinehas and the community leaders, the heads of Israel's clans who were with him, heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased.

Then the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the leaders returned from the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report to them.

“The LORD your God will force them back on your account and drive them out before you so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.

“and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not serve them or bow in worship to them.

“If you ever turn away and become loyal to the rest of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry or associate with them and they with you,

“If you break the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow in worship to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land he has given you.”

“I sent Moses and Aaron, and I defeated Egypt by what I did within it, and afterward I brought you out.

They buried him in his allotted territory at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

When he showed them the way into the town, they put the town to the sword but released the man and his entire family.

Naphtali did not drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh or the residents of Beth-anath. They lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, but the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served as their forced labor.

and abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered the LORD,

Whenever the Israelites went out, the LORD was against them and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

“I did this to test Israel and to see whether or not they would keep the LORD's way by walking in it, as their ancestors had.”

These are the nations the LORD left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan.

The LORD left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the LORD's commands he had given their ancestors through Moses.

Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite,[fn] as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him with the tribute for King Eglon of Moab.

At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all stout and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped.

For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it.

the LORD sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.

Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men? ' ”

So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith[fn] their god.

So they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith.[fn] Abimelech used it to hire worthless and reckless men, and they followed him.

When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and called to them:

Listen to me, citizens of Shechem,

and may God listen to you:

But the olive tree said to them,

“Should I stop giving my oil

that people use to honor both God and men,

and rule[fn] over the trees? ”

But the fig tree said to them,

“Should I stop giving

my sweetness and my good fruit,

and rule over trees? ”

But the grapevine said to them,

“Should I stop giving my wine

that cheers both God and man,

and rule over trees? ”

He took the troops, divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the countryside. He looked, and the people were coming out of the city, so he arose against them and struck them down.

He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. They had thirty towns[fn] in Gilead, which are still called Jair's Villages[fn] today.

“Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite? ” If he answered, “No,”

He scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey from the lion's carcass.

“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can explain it to me during the seven days of the feast and figure it out, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.

So he said to them:

Out of the eater came something to eat,

and out of the strong came something sweet.

After three days, they were unable to explain the riddle.

On the seventh day, before sunset, the men of the city said to him:

What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?

So he said to them:

If you hadn't plowed with my young cow,

you wouldn't know my riddle now!

Then Samson told them, “Because you did this, I swear that I won't rest until I have taken vengeance on you.”

So the men of Judah said, “Why have you attacked us? ”

They replied, “We have come to tie Samson up and pay him back for what he did to us.”

Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here! ” But while the men in ambush were waiting in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

Samson took hold of the two middle pillars supporting the temple and leaned against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left.

The priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over the journey you are going on.”

There was no one to rescue them because it was far from Sidon and they had no alliance with anyone. It was in a valley that belonged to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city and lived in it.

“What should we do about wives for the survivors? We've sworn to the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives.”

The congregation sent twelve thousand brave warriors there and commanded them, “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and dependents.

Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them.

“But we can't give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.”

“When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn't actually give the women to them, so[fn] you are not guilty of breaking your oath.' ”

She and her daughters-in-law set out to return from the territory of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the LORD had paid attention to his people's need by providing them food.

“would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying?[fn] No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share,[fn] because the LORD's hand has turned against me.”

He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the trash heap.

He seats them with noblemen

and gives them a throne of honor.[fn]

For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's;

he has set the world on them.

He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people.

And Samuel's words came to all Israel.

Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and[fn] camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek.

The LORD's hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod. He terrified the people of Ashdod and its territory and afflicted them with tumors.[fn][fn]

“Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When he afflicted them, didn't they send Israel away, and Israel left?

God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD.[fn] He struck down seventy persons.[fn] The people mourned because the LORD struck them with a great slaughter.

“Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”

“Listen to them,” the LORD told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.”

Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”

The women answered, “Yes, he is ahead of you. Hurry, he just now entered the city, because there's a sacrifice for the people at the high place today.

Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them to the banquet hall, and gave them a place at the head of the thirty[fn] or so men who had been invited.

The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions. During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

“But they forgot the LORD their God, so he handed them over to Sisera commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. These enemies fought against them.

He then said, “Go among the troops and say to them, ‘Let each man bring me his ox or his sheep. Do the slaughtering here and then you can eat. Don't sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood in it.' ” So every one of the troops brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

Saul said, “Let's go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don't let even one remain! ”

“Do whatever you want,” the troops replied.

But the priest said, “Let's approach God here.”

He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations, “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation? ” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.

When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such great force that they fled from him.

Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin: Is Jesse's son going to give all of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he'll make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have shown concern for me.

With these words David persuaded[fn] his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.

Then Saul left the cave and went on his way.

“I hear that you are shearing.[fn] When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

“The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren't harassed and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them.

As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming toward her and met them.

David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.

Nothing of theirs was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters, and all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back.

but all the corrupt and worthless men among those who had gone with David argued, “Because they didn't go with us, we will not give any of the plunder we recovered to them except for each man's wife and children. They may take them and go.”

So Joab son of Zeruiah and David's soldiers marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. The two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

Afterward, they carried Asahel to his father's tomb in Bethlehem and buried him. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at dawn.

But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, the one who has redeemed my life from every distress,

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the LORD's presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

So David inquired of the LORD, and he answered, “Do not attack directly, but circle around behind them and come at them opposite the balsam trees.

You established your people Israel to be your own people forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.

When all the kings who were Hadadezer's subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their subjects. After this, the Arameans were afraid to ever help the Ammonites again.

The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

So Absalom's young men did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the rest of the king's sons got up, and each fled on his mule.

When David had gone a little beyond the summit,[fn] Ziba, Mephibosheth's servant, was right there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of summer fruit, and a clay jar of wine.

“He's probably already hiding in one of the caves[fn] or some other place. If some of our troops fall[fn] first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There's been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.'

Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, because they dared not be seen entering the city.

Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? ”

“They passed by toward the water,”[fn] the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

The Gibeonites were not Israelites but rather a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but Saul had tried to kill them in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah. So David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

The man who touches them

must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear.

They will be completely burned up on the spot.

Was he not more honored than the Three? He became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.

The LORD's anger burned against Israel again, and he stirred up David against them to say, “Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.”

“Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

The king said to them, “Take my servants with you, have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon.

This was the design of the carts: They had frames; the frames were between the cross-pieces,

may you hear in heaven

and forgive the sin of your servants

and your people Israel,

so that you may teach them to walk on the good way.

May you send rain on your land

that you gave your people for an inheritance.

may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven

and uphold their cause.

If you or your sons turn away from following me and do not keep my commands ​— ​my statutes that I have set before you ​— ​and if you go and serve other gods and bow in worship to them,

Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They held on to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, the LORD brought all this ruin on them.”

They replied, “Today if you will be a servant to this people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to this people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us'? ”

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had ordered: “Return to me on the third day.”

Then King Asa gave a command to everyone without exception in Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah with them.

Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions?[fn] If the LORD is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn't answer him a word.

So he said, “If they have marched out in peace, take them alive, and if they have marched out for battle, take them alive.”

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go against Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain? ”

They replied, “March up, and the Lord will hand it over to the king.”

He served Baal and bowed in worship to him. He angered the LORD God of Israel just as his father had done.

He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the children.

“Aren't Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be clean? ” So he turned and left in a rage.

Gehazi said, “It's all right. My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them seventy-five pounds[fn] of silver and two sets of clothing.' ”

So he prepared a big feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The Aramean raiders did not come into Israel's land again.

The diseased men came and called to the city's gatekeepers and told them, “We went to the Aramean camp and no one was there ​— ​no human sounds. There was nothing but tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact.”

When Jehu came out to his master's servants, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this crazy person come to you? ”

Then he said to them, “You know the sort and their ranting.”

Then he said to the custodian of the wardrobe, “Bring out the garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out their garments.

In the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards. He had them come to him in the LORD's temple, where he made a covenant with them and put them under oath. He showed them the king's son

They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You must not do this.”

They rejected his statutes and his covenant he had made with their ancestors and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

When they first lived there, they did not fear the LORD. So the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

The LORD made a covenant with Jacob's descendants and commanded them, “Do not fear other gods; do not bow in worship to them; do not serve them; do not sacrifice to them.

who said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The LORD says this: Don't be afraid because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria's attendants have blasphemed me.

Hezekiah listened to the letters and showed the envoys his whole treasure house ​— ​the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil ​— ​and his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace? ”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn't anything in my treasuries that I didn't show them.”

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and reestablished the altars for Baal. He made an Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done; he also bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served them.

“I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land I gave to their ancestors if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them ​— ​the whole law that my servant Moses commanded them.”

“But no accounting is to be required from them for the silver given to them since they work with integrity.”

She said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me,

Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to anger the LORD. Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel.

They received help against these enemies because they cried out to God in battle, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. He was receptive to their prayer because they trusted in him.

These were the places assigned to Aaron's descendants from the Kohathite family for their settlements in their territory, because the first lot was for them.

The singers, the heads of the Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other tasks because they were on duty day and night.

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the LORD's presence, and they anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the LORD's word through Samuel.

He was more honored than the Three and became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.

David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you, but if you have come to betray me to my enemies even though my hands have done no wrong, may the God of our ancestors look on it and judge.”

Some Manassites defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. However, they did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers sent David away after a discussion. They said, “It will be our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”

They spent three days there eating and drinking with David, for their relatives had provided for them.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of David; when David heard of this, he went out to face them.

So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, “Do not pursue them directly. Circle around them and attack them opposite the balsam trees.

He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it.

You made your people Israel your own people forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.

It was reported to David about his men, so he sent messengers to meet them, since the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back; then return.”

“Whenever burnt offerings are offered to the LORD on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed festivals, they are to offer them regularly in the LORD's presence according to the number prescribed for them.

But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.

From the Hebronites: Jerijah was the head of the Hebronites, according to the family records of his ancestors. A search was made in the fortieth year of David's reign and strong, capable men were found among them at Jazer in Gilead.

“100 tons[fn] of gold (gold of Ophir) and 250 tons[fn] of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings,

Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the LORD's house under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.

He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left. The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them, but the basin was used by the priests for washing.

may you hear in heaven

and forgive the sin of your people Israel.

May you restore them to the land

you gave them and their ancestors.

may you hear in heaven

and forgive the sin of your servants

and your people Israel,

so that you may teach them the good way

they should walk in.

May you send rain on your land

that you gave your people for an inheritance.

However, if you turn away and abandon my statutes and my commands that I have set before you and if you go and serve other gods and bow in worship to them,

Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, he brought all this ruin on them.”

Rehoboam replied, “Return to me in three days.” So the people left.

They replied, “If you will be kind to this people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

Then the prophet Shemaiah went to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the LORD says: You have abandoned me; therefore, I have abandoned you to Shishak.”

Judah turned and discovered that the battle was in front of them and behind them, so they cried out to the LORD. Then the priests blew the trumpets,

Then Abijah and his people struck them with a mighty blow, and five hundred thousand fit young men of Israel were killed.

Then Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until they had no survivors, for they were crushed before the LORD and his army. So the people of Judah carried off a great supply of loot.

“but when they turned to the LORD God of Israel in their distress and sought him, he was found by them.

All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They had sought him with all sincerity, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and asked them, “Should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain? ”

They replied, “March up, and God will hand it over to the king.”

“For every dispute that comes to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities ​— ​whether it regards differences of bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, or judgments ​— ​you are to warn them, so they will not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath will not come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.

Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you.[fn]

and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

“You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out to face them, for the LORD is with you.' ”

Their father had given them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuable things, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

Then the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in God's temple. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king's son! He will reign, just as the LORD promised concerning David's sons.

Then the priest Jehoiada sent out the commanders of hundreds, those in charge of the army, saying, “Take her out between the ranks, and put anyone who follows her to death by the sword,” for the priest had said, “Don't put her to death in the LORD's temple.”