LXX Concordance for αὐτὸν

The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.

So the LORD God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

Then the LORD replied to him, “In that case,[fn] whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And he placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him.

Adam lived 800 years after he fathered Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

Jared lived 800 years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it into the ark to himself.

When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth's surface had gone down.

After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.

After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King's Valley).

Now the word of the LORD came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body[fn] will be your heir.”

But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.[fn] I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring.

When he finished talking with him, God withdrew[fn] from Abraham.

Then he spoke to him again, “Suppose forty are found there? ”

He answered, “I will not do it on account of forty.”

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.

The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father's line.”

Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

“Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac[fn] and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham! ”

He replied, “Here I am.”

Abraham looked up and saw a ram[fn] caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from? ”

Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah ​— ​daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor ​— ​coming with a jug on her shoulder.

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hethite.

When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.”

Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped[fn] a hundred times what was sown. The LORD blessed him,

He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him.

Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled[fn] his clothes, he blessed him and said:

Ah, the smell of my son

is like the smell of a field

that the LORD has blessed.

But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son? ”

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.

Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.”

Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it

When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened.

So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

And Jacob saw from Laban's face that his attitude toward him was not the same as before.

So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.

So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker.

Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.[fn]

He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him.

When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob's hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip.

Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

But he answered, “Why do you ask my name? ” And he blessed him there.

But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept.

Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel[fn] because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him.

With her last breath ​— ​for she was dying ​— ​she named him Ben-oni,[fn] but his father called him Benjamin.[fn]

He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.

“Are you really going to reign over us? ” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us? ” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said.

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.

They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him.

“So now, come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of the pits.[fn] We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams! ”

“Come on, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and his brothers agreed.

His father recognized it. “It is my son's robe,” he said. “A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces! ”

All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.

Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the LORD's sight, and the LORD put him to death.

Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

Joseph found favor with his master and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority.[fn]

She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me! ” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

“When he heard me screaming for help,[fn] he left his garment beside me and ran outside.”

When his master heard the story his wife told him ​— ​“These are the things your slave did to me” ​— ​he was furious

The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph's authority,[fn] because the LORD was with him, and the LORD made everything that he did successful.

Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon.[fn] He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.

“So now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, clothed him with fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

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.

Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don't bring him back to you. Put him in my care,[fn] and I will return him to you.”

“I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable![fn] If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever.

“and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy's brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'

“One is gone from me ​— ​I said he must have been torn to pieces ​— ​and I have never seen him again.

“when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go to see him before I die.”

Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the silver is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

Then Joseph, leaning over his father's face, wept and kissed him.

They took forty days to complete this, for embalming takes that long, and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wept loudly, and Joseph mourned seven days for his father.

So Jacob's sons did for him what he had commanded them.

So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before he died your father gave a command:

His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves! ”

Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses,[fn] “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Looking all around and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian dead and hid him in the sand.

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses! ”

“Here I am,” he answered.

“You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak[fn] and will teach you both what to do.

On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the LORD confronted him and intended to put him to death.

So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.

The LORD made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there.

Moses told Aaron, “Take a container and put two quarts[fn] of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved throughout your generations.”

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and then kissed him. They asked each other how they had been[fn] and went into the tent.

Moses went up the mountain to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites:

“his master is to bring him to the judges[fn] and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.

“If a person schemes and willfully[fn] acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from my altar to be put to death.

“Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession.

“there must be an oath before the LORD between the two of them to determine whether or not he has taken his neighbor's property. Its owner must accept the oath, and the other man does not have to make restitution.

“If it was actually torn apart by a wild animal, he is to bring it as evidence; he does not have to make restitution for the torn carcass.

“If you lend silver to my people, to the poor person among you, you must not be like a creditor to him; you must not charge him interest.

“You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and splatter it on all sides of the altar.

“Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on Aaron's right earlobe, on his sons' right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the remaining blood on all sides of the altar.

“Make a bronze basin for washing and a bronze stand for it. Set it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

“I have filled him with God's Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft

“I have also selected Oholiab[fn] son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be with him. I have put wisdom in the heart of every skilled artisan[fn] in order to make all that I have commanded you:

He took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.

And Moses stood at the camp's entrance and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book.

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent.

As Moses descended from Mount Sinai ​— ​with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain ​— ​he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the LORD.[fn]

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

“He has filled him with God's Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every kind of craft

“Clothe Aaron with the holy garments, anoint him, and consecrate him, so that he can serve me as a priest.

“all the rest of the bull ​— ​he must bring to a ceremonially clean place outside the camp to the ash heap, and must burn it on a wood fire. It is to be burned at the ash heap.

“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 lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering.

“Or if someone swears rashly to do what is good or evil ​— ​concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath ​— ​without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.

“If someone offends by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the LORD's holy things,[fn] he must bring his penalty for guilt to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock (based on your assessment of its value in silver shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel) as a guilt offering.

He put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He put the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him.

He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed and consecrated him.

Then Moses slaughtered it,[fn] took the blood, and applied it with his finger to the horns of the altar on all sides, purifying the altar. He poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement can be made on it.[fn]

Moses slaughtered it,[fn] took some of its blood, and put it on Aaron's right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

“The priest will then reexamine him on the seventh day. If he sees that the sore remains unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine him for another seven days.

“it is a chronic serious disease on the skin of his body, and the priest must pronounce him unclean. He need not quarantine him, for he is unclean.

“the priest will look, and if the skin disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the stricken person clean. Since he has turned totally white, he is clean.

“When the priest examines the raw flesh, he must pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean; this is a serious skin disease.

“The priest will make an examination, and if the spot seems to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a case of serious skin disease that has broken out in the boil.

“the priest is to examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a serious skin disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a serious skin disease.

“the priest is to examine the condition. If it appears to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and sparse, the priest must pronounce the person unclean. It is a scaly outbreak, a serious skin disease of the head or chin.

“The priest will examine the scaly outbreak on the seventh day, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce the person clean. He is to wash his clothes, and he will be clean.

“But if as far as he can see, the scaly outbreak remains unchanged and black hair has grown in it, then it has healed; he is clean. The priest is to pronounce the person clean.

“The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the condition on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white, like the appearance of a serious skin disease on his body,

“The priest is to take one male lamb and present it as a guilt offering, along with the one-third quart of olive oil, and he will present them as a presentation offering before the LORD.

“On the eighth day he is to bring these things for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the LORD.

“If discharge is on the bed or the furniture she was sitting on, when he touches it he will be unclean until evening.

“he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering.

“The priest who is anointed and ordained[fn] to serve as high priest in place of his father will make atonement. He will put on the linen garments, the holy garments,

“Do not harbor hatred against your brother.[fn] Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him.

“You will regard the alien who resides with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

“Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or alien residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him.

“If a man marries[fn] a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned, so that there will be no depravity among you.

“or whoever touches any swarming creature that makes him unclean or any person who makes him unclean ​— ​whatever his uncleanness ​— ​

“He must not eat an animal that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts,[fn] making himself unclean by it; I am the LORD.

“Aaron is to tend it continually from evening until morning before the LORD outside the curtain of the testimony in the tent of meeting. This is a permanent statute throughout your generations.

Her son cursed and blasphemed the Name, and they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith, a daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.)

“Bring the one who has cursed to the outside of the camp and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole community stone him.

“Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the resident alien or the native.

After Moses spoke to the Israelites, they brought the one who had cursed to the outside of the camp and stoned him. So the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

“You are not to rule over them harshly but fear your God.

“You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But concerning your brothers, the Israelites, you must not rule over one another harshly.

“His uncle or cousin may redeem him, or any of his close relatives from his clan may redeem him. If he prospers, he may redeem himself.

“He will stay with him like a man hired year by year. A resident alien is not to rule over him harshly in your sight.

“But if one is too poor to pay the assessment, he is to present the person before the priest and the priest will set a value for him. The priest will set a value for him according to what the one making the vow can afford.

“then the priest will calculate for him the amount of the assessment up to the Year of Jubilee, and the person will pay the assessed value on that day as a holy offering to the LORD.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man's wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him,

“or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest will carry out all these instructions for her.

“The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head.

When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. He spoke to him that way.

“Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so you should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing mother carries a baby,' to the land that you swore to give their ancestors?

When they came to Eshcol Valley, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which was carried on a pole by two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.

“But since my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it.

“If you prepare a grain offering with a ram, it is to be four quarts[fn] of fine flour mixed with a third of a gallon[fn] of oil.

Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the entire community.

But Edom answered him, “You will not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

So Moses did as the LORD commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.

Then Israel made a vow to the LORD, “If you will hand this people over to us, we will completely destroy their cities.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only up to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.[fn]

But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people.[fn][fn] Balak said to him, “Look, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the surface of the land and are living right across from me.

“‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.' ”

In the morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him to Bamoth-baal.[fn] From there he saw the outskirts of the people's camp.

God met with him and Balaam said to him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,

and I watch them from the hills.

There is a people living alone;

it does not consider itself among the nations.

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.”

Then Balak told Balaam, “Don't curse them and don't bless them! ”

Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.”

God brought him out of Egypt;

he is like[fn] the horns of a wild ox for them.

He will feed on enemy nations

and gnaw their bones;

he will strike them with his arrows.

“It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

The LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.

“He will stand before the priest Eleazar who will consult the LORD for him with the decision of the Urim. He and all the Israelites with him, even the entire community, will go out and come back in at his command.”

“If you turn back from following him, he will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them.”

“Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies,

“The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

“and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed,

“except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he remained loyal to the LORD.'

“Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it.

“The LORD also said, ‘Get up, move out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have handed the Amorites' King Sihon of Heshbon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession of it; engage[fn] him in battle.

“The LORD our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army.

“But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.'

“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.'

“Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.

“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?

“But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.

“Because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,

Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive:

“Fear the LORD your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.

“Know that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.

“I took the sinful calf you had made and burned it. I crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as fine as dust, and threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you except to fear the LORD your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul?

“You are to fear the LORD your God and worship him. Remain faithful[fn] to him and take oaths in his name.

“You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the LORD chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.

“You must follow the LORD your God and fear him. You must keep his commands and listen to him; you must worship him and remain faithful[fn] to him.

“Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

“If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.

“Sacrifice to the LORD your God a Passover animal from the herd or flock in the place where the LORD chooses to have his name dwell.

“All your males are to appear three times a year before the LORD your God in the place he chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters. No one is to appear before the LORD empty-handed.

“For the LORD your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and minister in his name from now on.[fn]

“Here is the law concerning a case of someone who kills a person and flees there to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him:

“Otherwise, the avenger of blood in the heat of his anger[fn] might pursue the one who committed manslaughter, overtake him because the distance is great, and strike him dead. Yet he did not deserve to die,[fn] since he did not previously hate his neighbor.

“But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in ambush for him, attacks him, and strikes him fatally, and flees to one of these cities,

“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn't listen to them even after they discipline him,

“Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

Then the elders of that city will take the man and punish him.

“If a man is discovered kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

“When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow.

“If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime.

“The elders of his city will summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, ‘I don't want to marry her,'

“If two men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she puts out her hand and grabs his genitals,

“Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the LORD your God.

“and single him out for harm from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

“My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide my face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, ‘Haven't these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us? '

“For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the LORD's sight, angering him with what your hands have made.”

He found him in a desolate land,

in a barren, howling wilderness;

he surrounded him, cared for him,

and protected him as the pupil of his eye.

Then[fn] Jeshurun[fn] became fat and rebelled —

you became fat, bloated, and gorged.

He abandoned the God who made him

and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

He said about Levi:

Your Thummim and Urim belong to your faithful one;[fn]

you tested him at Massah

and contended with him at the Waters of Meribah.

LORD, bless his possessions,[fn]

and accept the work of his hands.

Break the back[fn] of his adversaries and enemies,

so that they cannot rise again.

He buried him[fn] in the valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is.

No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.

On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him throughout his life, as they had revered Moses.

“Oh, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did you ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been content to remain on the other side of the Jordan!

Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

He hung[fn] the body of the king of Ai on a tree[fn] until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which still remains today.

At that time King Horam of Gezer went to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.

the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei; he was one of the remaining Rephaim.

Moses struck them down and drove them out,

all the cities of the plateau, and all the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. Moses had killed him and the chiefs of Midian ​— ​Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba ​— ​the princes of Sihon who lived in the land.

The descendants of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD promised Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me.

Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance.

“because the hill country will be yours also. It is a forest; clear it and its outlying areas will be yours. You can also drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

“that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from him. May the LORD himself hold us accountable if we intended to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it.

“But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak at the sanctuary of the LORD.

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

When Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

The spies saw a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Please show us how to get into town, and we will show you kindness.”

The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to go down into the valley.

They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the LORD handed over King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him.

After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.[fn]

Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.

“Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin's army, his chariots, and his infantry at the Wadi Kishon to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.' ”

“I will gladly go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the LORD will sell Sisera to a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don't be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

“Are they not finding and dividing the spoil —

a girl or two[fn] for each warrior,

the spoil of colored garments for Sisera,

the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck? ”[fn]

Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Hasn't the LORD brought us out of Egypt? ' But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel[fn] of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father's family and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.

So he brought the troops down to the water, and the LORD said to Gideon, “Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink.”

That night the LORD said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.

The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites? ” And they argued with him violently.

“God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. What was I able to do compared to you? ” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

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

When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, “Look, troops are coming down from the mountaintops! ” But Zebul said to him, “The shadows of the mountains look like men to you.”

Zebul replied, “What do you have to say now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? ' Aren't these the troops you despised? Now go and fight them! ”

but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. Numerous bodies were strewn as far as the entrance of the city gate.

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.

When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.

He quickly called his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, or they'll say about me, ‘A woman killed him.' ” So his armor-bearer ran him through, and he died.

After him came Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.

“The LORD God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, and will you now force us out?

“whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering.”

Ibzan, who was from Bethlehem, judged Israel after Jephthah

Elon, who was from Zebulun, judged Israel after Ibzan. He judged Israel ten years,

So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty men to accompany him.

So Samson's wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me and don't love me! You told my people the riddle, but haven't explained it to me.”

“Look,” he said,[fn] “I haven't even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you? ”

The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men. He stripped them and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. In a rage, Samson returned to his father's house,

Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and visited his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter.

“No,” they said,[fn] “we won't kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock.

When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let's wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”

The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Persuade him to tell you[fn] where his great strength comes from, so we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each of us will then give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

The Philistine leaders brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.

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.

She fastened the braids with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here! ” He awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin, with the loom and the web.

Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him.

The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison.

When the people saw him, they praised their god and said:

Our god has handed over to us

our enemy who destroyed our land

and who multiplied our dead.

Then his brothers and his father's whole family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. So he judged Israel twenty years.

The Danites said to him, “Don't raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

Then her husband got up and followed her to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him to her father's house, and when the girl's father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.

The man got up to go, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed and spent the night there again.

So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. Then they washed their feet and ate and drank.

and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving before it. The Israelites asked, “Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites or should we stop? ”

The LORD answered, “Fight, because I will hand them over to you tomorrow.”

They retreated before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities[fn] slaughtered those between them.

“Wash, put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don't let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here[fn] and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

Making a vow, she pleaded, “LORD of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”[fn]

“I now give the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD.” Then he[fn] worshiped the LORD there.[fn]

Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the LORD in the presence of the priest Eli.

The LORD came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel! ”

Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Then Samuel took a young lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him.

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,[fn] explaining, “The LORD has helped us to this point.”

“As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes to the high place to eat. The people won't eat until he comes because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests can eat. Go up immediately ​— ​you can find him now.”

Now the day before Saul's arrival, the LORD had informed Samuel,

Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it out on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, “Hasn't the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance?[fn]

When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully on him, and he prophesied along with them.

Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go? ”

“To look for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we saw they weren't there, we went to Samuel.”

They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else.[fn]

But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us? ” They despised him and did not bring him a gift, but Saul said nothing.[fn][fn]

“Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.' ”

Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.

Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of Amalek.”

Agag came to him trembling,[fn] for he thought, “Certainly the bitterness of death has come.”[fn][fn]

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected for myself a king from his sons.”

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

Then Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well and bring him to me.”

When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.

“I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur,[fn] strike it down, and kill it.

David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine's sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops

Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' ” Actually, Saul intended to cause David's death at the hands of the Philistines.

Saul sent agents to David's house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. But his wife Michal warned David, “If you don't escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow! ”

Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.”

So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God also came on him, and as he walked along, he prophesied until he entered Naioth in Ramah.

He got up from the table fiercely angry and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father's shameful behavior toward David.

“Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me?

So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David's brothers and his father's whole family heard, they went down and joined him there.

Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse's son conspire against me? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him, so he could rise up against me and wait in ambush, as is the case today.”

When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.”

David then stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.

“So now, whenever the king wants to come down, let him come down. As for us, we will be glad to hand him over to the king.”

“Investigate[fn] all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I'll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I'll search for him among all the clans[fn] of Judah.”

“When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed?[fn] May the LORD repay you with good for what you've done for me today.

Samuel died, and all Israel assembled to mourn for him, and they buried him by his home in Ramah. David then went down to the Wilderness of Paran.[fn]

so David sent ten young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him[fn] in my name.

Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy to you. Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once. I won't have to strike him twice! ”

By this time Samuel had died, all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

He refused, saying, “I won't eat,” but when his servants and the woman urged him, he listened to them. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.

The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle. What better way could he ingratiate himself with his master than with the heads of our men?

David's men found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.

David then asked him, “Will you lead me to these raiders? ”

He said, “Swear to me by God that you won't kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.”

When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had been left at the Wadi Besor, they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him. When David approached the men, he greeted them,

When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him.[fn]

They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people.

On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head came from Saul's camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage.

“So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn't survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I've brought them here to my lord.”

David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “The LORD bless you because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him.

Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Saul's son Ish-bosheth[fn][fn] and moved him to Mahanaim.

But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the butt of his spear. The spear went through his body, and he fell and died right there. As they all came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, they stopped,

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.

Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he went back.

Just then David's soldiers and Joab returned from a raid and brought a large amount of plundered goods with them. Abner was not with David in Hebron because David had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.

Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well[fn] of Sirah, but David was unaware of it.

Saul's son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom and stabbed and killed him. They removed his head, took it, and traveled by way of the Arabah all night.

“when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,' he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was my reward to him for his news!

David was thirty years old when he began his reign; he reigned forty years.

Then David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

Then the LORD's anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God.

As the ark of the LORD was entering the city of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

When David returned home to bless his household, Saul's daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today! ” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

When the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,

“I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done

“I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals.

And who is like your people Israel? God came to one nation on earth in order to redeem a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to perform for them[fn] great and awesome acts,[fn] driving out nations and their gods before your people you redeemed for yourself from Egypt.

David took the gold shields of Hadadezer's officers and brought them to Jerusalem.

he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and to congratulate him because David had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Toi and Hadadezer had fought many wars. Joram had items of silver, gold, and bronze with him.

David made a reputation for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites[fn] in Salt Valley.[fn]

There was a servant of Saul's family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba? ”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

Then David said, “I'll show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent his emissaries to console Hanun concerning his father. However, when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,

When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some of Israel's finest young men and lined up in formation to engage the Arameans.

Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master's servants, but he did not go home.

“At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth?[fn][fn] Didn't a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall? ' ​— ​then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hethite is dead also.' ”

So the LORD sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him:

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his guest.[fn]

“Why then have you despised the LORD's command by doing what I consider[fn] evil? You struck down Uriah the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife ​— ​you murdered him with the Ammonite's sword.

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.

But Absalom urged him, so he sent Amnon and all the king's sons.[fn]

“Go to the king and speak these words to him.” Then Joab told her exactly what to say.[fn]

“Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will eliminate the heir! ' They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband's name or posterity on earth.”

“Whoever speaks to you,” the king said, “bring him to me. He will not trouble you again! ”

When he shaved his head ​— ​he shaved it at the end of every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off ​— ​he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds[fn] according to the royal standard.

Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come to him. So he sent again, a second time, but he still would not come.

He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for settlement, Absalom called out to him and asked, “What city are you from? ” If he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

while all his servants marched past him. Then all the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the people of Gath— six hundred men who came with him from there ​— ​marched past the king.

The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? He curses me this way because the LORD[fn] told him, ‘Curse David! ' Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that? ' ”

So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him, “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say? ”

“Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left ​— ​neither he nor any of the men with him.

“You just saw him! ” Joab exclaimed.[fn] “Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten silver pieces[fn] and a belt! ”

They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and raised up a huge mound of stones over him. And all Israel fled, each to his tent.

The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right? ”

The Cushite replied, “I wish that the enemies of my lord the king, along with all who rise up against you with evil intent, would become like that young man.”

“My lord the king,” he replied, “my servant Ziba betrayed me. Actually your servant said, ‘I'll saddle the donkey for myself[fn] so that I may ride it and go with the king' ​— ​for your servant is lame.

Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim and accompanied the king to the Jordan River to see him off at the Jordan.

Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab's hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his intestines out on the ground. Joab did not stab him again, and Amasa died.

Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

Joab's troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah. They built a siege ramp against the outer wall of the city. While all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to make it collapse,