1 Samuel 15 Cross References - LEB

¹ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Yahweh sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. So then, _⌊listen to the words_⌋* of Yahweh! ² Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'I have observed what Amalek did to Israel, _⌊how he opposed him_⌋* when he went up from Egypt. ³ So then, go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that is his! You must not spare him, but kill both man and woman, both child and nursing infant, both ox and sheep, both camel and donkey.'" ⁴ Saul summoned the army and mustered them at Telaim; two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ Then Saul came up to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the wadi.* ⁶ Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, leave! Withdraw from among the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you with them. You have shown loyal love to all the _⌊Israelites_⌋* when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites left from among the Amalekites. ⁷ Then Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as one goes to Shur which is _⌊east of_⌋* Egypt. ⁸ He captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, but all the people he utterly destroyed with the _⌊edge_⌋* of the sword. ⁹ However, Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the cattle and the second best of the young fatlings and _⌊all that was valuable_⌋;* they were not willing to utterly destroy them. But all the possessions that were despised or worthless, they utterly destroyed. ¹⁰ Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹ "I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word." _⌊Samuel became angry_⌋,* and he cried out to Yahweh all night. ¹² Then Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul. Samuel was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel, and look, he is setting up a monument for himself." Then he turned around and crossed over and went down to Gilgal. ¹³ When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, "May you be blessed by Yahweh! I have kept the word of Yahweh." ¹⁴ But Samuel said, "Then what is this bleating of the sheep that I hear in my ears and the lowing of the cattle that I am hearing?" ¹⁵ Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; the troops spared the best of the sheep and the cattle in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God. But the rest we have utterly destroyed." ¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stop and let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night." So he said to him, "Speak." ¹⁷ Samuel said, "Even though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh has anointed you as king over Israel. ¹⁸ When Yahweh sent you on your way, he said to you: 'Go! You must utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and you must fight against them until you* have destroyed them.' ¹⁹ Why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh and fall with shouting on the plunder? You have done evil in the sight of Yahweh!" ²⁰ Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have listened to the voice of Yahweh, and I have gone on the way that Yahweh sent me! I brought Agag the king of Amalek, and the Amalekites I have utterly destroyed. ²¹ The troops took from the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal." ²² Then Samuel said,
"Is there as much delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices as there is in _⌊obeying_⌋* Yahweh? Look! _⌊To obey_⌋* is better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination; arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king!" ²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned because I have transgressed _⌊the commandment of Yahweh_⌋* and your words, for I feared the troops and I listened to their voice. ²⁵ So then, please pardon my sin and return with me _⌊so that I can worship_⌋* Yahweh." ²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and he has rejected you from being king over Israel!" ²⁷ As Samuel turned around to go, he* caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ Then Samuel said to him, "Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor _⌊who is better than you_⌋.* ²⁹ Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not break faith and will not regret, for he is not a human that he should regret." ³⁰ Then he* said, "I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me _⌊so that I can worship_⌋* Yahweh your God." ³¹ So Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul _⌊worshiped_⌋* Yahweh. ³² Then Samuel said, "Bring Agag the king of Amalek out to me!" Agag came to him confidently,* for Agag thought, "Surely the bitterness of death _⌊is over_⌋."* ³³ Samuel said,
"Just as your sword bereaved women, so will your mother be bereaved among women!"
Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces in the presence of Yahweh at Gilgal. ³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ Samuel _⌊did not see Saul again_⌋* until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned over Saul, and Yahweh regretted that he made Saul king over Israel.

¹⁶ "This time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you must anoint him as leader over my people Israel. He will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen the suffering of my people, because their cry of distress has come to me."

¹ Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, "_⌊Has not_⌋* Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance?

¹⁴ If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not be rebellious against _⌊what Yahweh says_⌋,* and both you and the king who rules over you will follow after Yahweh your God, all will be well.

¹³ Then Samuel said to Saul, "You have behaved foolishly! You have not kept the command of Yahweh your God which he commanded you. For then, Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stop and let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night." So he said to him, "Speak." ¹⁷ Samuel said, "Even though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh has anointed you as king over Israel. ¹⁸ When Yahweh sent you on your way, he said to you: 'Go! You must utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and you must fight against them until you* have destroyed them.'

² "The spirit of Yahweh speaks through me, and his word is upon my tongue. ³ The God of Israel said to me, the rock of Israel has spoken; 'He who rules over mankind rules righteously, in the fear of God.

¹² Only may Yahweh give to you understanding and insight that he might give you charge over Israel and the keeping of the law of Yahweh your God. ¹³ Then you will prosper if you take care to do the statutes and judgments which Yahweh commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and be courageous; fear not and do not be dismayed.

¹⁰ So then, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. ¹¹ Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

⁸ And Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek tomorrow. I will be standing on the top of the hill, and the staff of God will be in my hand." ¹⁰ And Joshua did as Moses had said to him to fight with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ And* when Moses raised his hand, Israel would prevail, but when he rested his hand, Amalek would prevail. ¹² But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it; Aaron and Hur supported his hands, _⌊one on each side_⌋,* and his hands were steady until _⌊sundown_⌋.* ¹³ And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the _⌊edge of the sword_⌋.* ¹⁴ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in the scroll and _⌊recite it in the hearing of_⌋* Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens." ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar, and he called its name Yahweh Is My Banner. ¹⁶ And he said, "Because a hand was against the throne of Yah,* a war will be for Yahweh with Amalek from generation to generation."

²⁰ And he looked at Amalek, _⌊uttered_⌋* his oracle, and said, "Amalek is first* of the nations, but his future will be forever ruin."

¹⁷ "Remember what Amalek did to you on the journey when* you went out from Egypt, ¹⁸ that he met you on the journey and attacked you, all those lagging behind you and when you were weary and worn out, and he did not fear God. ¹⁹ _⌊And when_⌋* Yahweh your God gives rest to you from all your enemies from around about you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance to take possession of it, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens; you shall not forget!"

³⁴ And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Know Yahweh,' for all of them will know me, from their _⌊smallest_⌋* and up to their _⌊greatest_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember."

² _⌊But they did not consider_⌋* that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.

⁷ Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their deeds!

¹⁷ And to Adam* he said, "Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree _⌊from which I forbade you to eat_⌋,*
the ground shall be cursed on your account. In pain you shall eat from it all the days of your life. ¹⁸ And thorns and thistles shall sprout for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.

⁵ You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I am Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing the guilt of the parents on the children on the third and on the fourth generations* of those hating me,

²⁸ However, anything devoted* that a man has devoted to Yahweh _⌊from all that he has_⌋,* from human or* animal, or* from the field of his property, may not be sold, and it may not be redeemed; anything devoted is _⌊a most holy thing_⌋* for Yahweh. ²⁹ Anyone devoted who is devoted from _⌊human beings_⌋* cannot be ransomed—he shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ Now kill every male among the little children, and kill every woman who has _⌊had sexual intercourse with a man_⌋.*

¹⁵ then you shall certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the _⌊edge_⌋* of the sword; you shall destroy it and everything in it, its domestic animals with the _⌊edge_⌋* of the sword. ¹⁶ And then you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all of its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be _⌊a pile of rubble forever_⌋;* it shall not be built again.

¹⁶ But from the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance, you shall not let anything live that breathes.* ¹⁷ Rather, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites* and the Amorites,* the Canaanites* and the Perizzites,* the Hivites,* and the Jebusites,* just as Yahweh your God has commanded you, ¹⁸ so that they may not teach you to do like all their detestable things that they do for their gods and thereby you sin against Yahweh your God.

¹⁷ The city and all that is in it will be devoted to Yahweh; only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in the house will live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸ As for you, keep away from the things* devoted to destruction so that you do not take them and bring about your own destruction, making the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it. ¹⁹ But all of the silver and gold, and the items of bronze and iron, are holy to Yahweh, and they must go to Yahweh's treasury." ²⁰ So the people shouted, and they* blew on the trumpets. And when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell flat. _⌊The people charged, each one straight ahead into the city_⌋,* and they captured it. ²¹ And they utterly destroyed _⌊by the edge of the sword_⌋* all who were in the city, both men and women, young and old, ox, sheep, and donkey.

¹⁹ And _⌊he put to the sword_⌋* Nob, the city of the priests, from man to woman, from child to infant, and ox and donkey and sheep;* all _⌊to the sword_⌋.*

²¹ Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons because of the sin of their ancestors.* Let them not rise and take possession of the earth or fill up the face of the world with cities." ²² "And I will rise up against them,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts,
"and I will cut off name and a remnant from Babylon, and offspring and posterity,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

²⁰ For the creation has been subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself also will be set free from its servility to decay, into the glorious freedom of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans together and suffers agony together until now.

²⁴ Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

⁸ He mustered them at Bezek; the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah were thirty thousand.

¹⁵ Then Samuel got up and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul mustered the people who were found with him, about six hundred men.

²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to kill the righteous with the wicked, that* the righteous would be as the wicked! Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?"

¹² Then the men said to Lot, "Who is here with you? Bring out from the place your sons-in-law, and your sons and your daughters, and all who are with you in the city. ¹³ For we are about to destroy this place, because their cry has become great before Yahweh. Yahweh sent us to destroy it." ¹⁴ Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were taking* his daughters and said, "Get up! Go out from this place, because Yahweh is going to destroy the city!" But _⌊it seemed like a joke_⌋* in the eyes of his sons-in-law. ¹⁵ And as the dawn came up the angels urged Lot saying, "Get up, take your wife and your two daughters _⌊who are staying with you_⌋,* lest you be destroyed with the punishment of the city." ¹⁶ But when he lingered, the men seized him by his hand and his wife's hand, and his two daughters by hand, on account of the mercy of Yahweh upon him. And they brought him out and set him outside of the city.

⁹ And Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Yahweh had done for Israel when he delivered them from the hand of Egypt. ¹⁰ And Jethro said, "Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh—who has delivered the people from under the hand of Egypt.

¹⁹ Now listen to my voice; I will advise you, and may God be with you. You be for the people before God, and you bring the issues to God.

²⁹ Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses, "We are setting out to the place that Yahweh said, 'I will give it to you'; go with us, and we will _⌊treat you well_⌋* because _⌊Yahweh promised_⌋* good concerning Israel." ³⁰ But he said to him, "I will not go. I will only go to my land and to my family." ³¹ He* said, "Please, do not abandon us because you know our encampment in the desert, and _⌊you should be our guide_⌋.* ³² Moreover, if you go with us, the good that Yahweh will do to us we will do to you."

²⁶ He said to the community, saying, "Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything _⌊that belongs to them_⌋,* or you will be destroyed with all their sins." ²⁷ And so they moved away from around the dwellings* of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out standing at the doorway of their tents, with their wives, sons, and little children.

³⁴ All Israel who were around them fled at their cry, because they said, "Lest the land swallow us up!"

²¹ And he looked at the Kenites,* _⌊uttered_⌋* his oracle, and said,
"Steady is your dwelling place; in the rock is your nest. ²² Nevertheless, the Kenite will be burned; how long will Asshur keep* you captive?"

¹⁶ The descendants* of Hobab the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the descendants* of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev* near Arad. And they went* and settled with the people.

¹¹ And Heber the Kenite was separated from the other Kenites,* that is, from the descendants* of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And _⌊he was encamped_⌋* at Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

²⁴ "Most blessed of women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; most blessed is she of women among tent dwellers.

¹⁰ And Achish said, "Against whom have you raided today?" David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites."

⁵⁵ And the families of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites. These were the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Recab.

⁶ Lay aside simplicity and live; walk in the way of understanding."

⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly urged and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this crooked generation!"

¹⁷ Therefore "come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean,* and I will welcome you,*

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he refreshed me many times, and was not ashamed of my imprisonment,

¹⁴ "And _⌊the fruit your soul desires_⌋* has departed from you, and all the luxury and the splendor has perished from you, and they will never find them any more."

¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon. It went around all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.

⁷ And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur.

¹⁸ They settled from Havilah to Shur, which was opposite* Egypt, going toward Asshur, opposite;* he _⌊settled_⌋* opposite* all his brothers.

²² And Moses caused Israel to set out from the _⌊Red Sea_⌋,* and they went out into the desert of Shur, and they traveled three days in the desert, and they did not find water.

⁴⁸ He acted bravely and defeated the Amalekites and rescued Israel from the hand of those who plundered it.

⁸ Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living in the land for a long time _⌊in the direction of_⌋* Shur and _⌊as far as_⌋* the land of Egypt.

³⁰ Indeed, the wicked is spared from the day of disaster; he is delivered from the day of wrath.

¹³ But it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not prolong their days, like the shadow; because there is no fearing _⌊God's presence_⌋.*

⁷ He will pour water from his buckets, and his offspring will be like many waters; his king will be higher than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted.

³⁹ and he captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with _⌊the the edge of the sword_⌋,* and they utterly destroyed all the people that were in it; he left behind no survivor, just as he had done to Hebron. Thus he did to Debir and its king what he had done to Libnah and its king.

¹² And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, and he utterly destroyed them with _⌊the edge of the sword_⌋,* as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded.

³ So then, go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that is his! You must not spare him, but kill both man and woman, both child and nursing infant, both ox and sheep, both camel and donkey.'"

⁸ Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living in the land for a long time _⌊in the direction of_⌋* Shur and _⌊as far as_⌋* the land of Egypt. ⁹ So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep,* the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish.

¹ _⌊Now_⌋* when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire.

³⁰ Then those who remained fled to Aphek, to the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who had remained, so Ben-Hadad fled and went to the innermost rooms of the city.

³⁴ Ben-Hadad said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I shall return. You may set up streets with stalls for yourself in Damascus just as my father set up in Samaria." Then Ahab said, "_⌊On these terms_⌋* I will let you go," So he made a covenant with him and let him go. ³⁵ A certain man from the sons of the prophets said to his fellow countryman, "By the word of Yahweh, please strike me." But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ He said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, look, as you now are going from me, a lion will kill you." When he went from beside him, the lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please," so the man struck him sharply and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and _⌊waited_⌋* for the king along the road and disguised himself with a* headband over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king was passing by, he called to the king and said, "Your servant went out in the thick of the battle, and suddenly a man turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he should be missed, it will be your life in his place, or you shall pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰ It happened that your servant _⌊was busy here and there_⌋,* and he _⌊disappeared_⌋."* Then the king said to him, "Your own judgment has been determined." ⁴¹ He quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was from the prophets. ⁴² He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because you have let the man I devoted for destruction go from your hand, your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.'"

¹ After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and he exalted him and set _⌊his position_⌋* above all the officials who were with him.

²¹ I saw among the spoil a beautiful robe from Shinar,* two hundred shekels of silver, and one bar of gold that weighed fifty shekels; I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver is under it."

¹⁵ Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; the troops spared the best of the sheep and the cattle in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God. But the rest we have utterly destroyed."

¹⁹ Why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh and fall with shouting on the plunder? You have done evil in the sight of Yahweh!"

¹³ It happened that when the carriers of the ark of Yahweh had marched six steps that he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.

⁶ And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and _⌊he was grieved in his heart_⌋.*

¹⁶ "Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: 'What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh?

²³ Also, as for me, far be it from me _⌊that I should sin_⌋* against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the good and righteous way.

⁹ However, Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the cattle and the second best of the young fatlings and _⌊all that was valuable_⌋;* they were not willing to utterly destroy them. But all the possessions that were despised or worthless, they utterly destroyed.

³⁵ Samuel _⌊did not see Saul again_⌋* until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned over Saul, and Yahweh regretted that he made Saul king over Israel.

¹⁶ When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh was at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

⁶ "If ever you or any of your descendants* turn from following me and do not keep my commandments and my ordinances that I have set before you and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, ⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples.

³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to have insight and to do good.

⁴¹ So they again tested God and distressed* the Holy One of Israel.

⁵⁷ And they turned and were treacherous like their ancestors.* They twisted like a crooked* bow.

⁴ In return for my love they accuse me, though I am in prayer.*

⁴ Yahweh has sworn and he will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever according to the manner of Melchizedek."

¹³⁶ Streams of water flow down from my eyes, because people do not heed your law.

⁵ But regarding those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

¹ * _⌊Oh that my head were waters_⌋,* and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night, for the slain of the daughter of my people.

¹⁸ And let them hasten, and let them lift up wailing over us, so that our eyes may melt with tears, and our eyelids may flow with water.

¹⁷ But if you will not listen to it, my inner self* will weep in secret places, because of _⌊the presence of_⌋* your pride. And my eyes* will weep bitterly, and they will melt in tears, because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.

⁷ One moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to uproot, and to tear down, and to destroy it.* ⁸ But if that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it. ⁹ And the next moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant it.* ¹⁰ But if it does evil in my sight, to not listen to my voice, then I will relent concerning the good that I said I would do to it.

³ Yahweh relented concerning this. "It will not be," said Yahweh.

¹⁰ And God saw their deeds—that they turned from their evil ways—and God changed his mind about the evil that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.*

² And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, was this not _⌊what I said_⌋* while I was in my homeland? Therefore _⌊I originally fled_⌋* to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger _⌊and having great steadfast love_⌋,* and one who relents concerning calamity.*

⁶ and those who turned back from _⌊following_⌋* Yahweh, and who did not seek Yahweh, and did not inquire of him."

⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

¹³ But the one who endures to the end—this person will be saved.

¹² Now it happened that in these days he went away to the mountain to pray, and was spending the whole night in prayer to God.

⁴¹ And when he approached and* saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, "If you had known on this day—even you—the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For days will come upon you and your enemies will put up an embankment* against you, and will surround you and press you hard from all directions. ⁴⁴ And they will raze you to the ground, you and your children within you, and will not leave a stone upon a stone within you, _⌊because_⌋* you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

¹ I am telling the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit— ² that my grief is great and there is constant distress in my heart. ³ For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my fellow countrymen according to the flesh,

³⁸ But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul is not well pleased with him."*

⁸ Thus the _⌊Israelites_⌋* did as Joshua commanded. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan as Yahweh told Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and they carried them over with them to _⌊the camp_⌋,* and they put them there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day.

⁵⁵ Moan, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

¹² So Samuel took a single stone and put it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, "Up to here Yahweh has helped us."

² Now there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich and _⌊owned_⌋* three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. _⌊Now_⌋* the shearing of his sheep was taking place in Carmel.

¹⁸ (Now Absalom had taken and set up for himself in his lifetime a stone pillar that is in the valley of the king, because he said, "I have no son in order to remember my name," and he called the stone pillar by his name. It is called the monument of Absalom until this day).

⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and to drink while Elijah went to the top of Carmel, bent down to the earth, and put his face between his knees.

¹² And the man* replied,* "The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave to me from the tree and I ate."

¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.

² And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, and about which you also pronounced a curse _⌊in my hearing_⌋,* are with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by Yahweh."

¹⁰ And he said, "You are blessed by Yahweh my daughter. You did better in this last kindness than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.

¹⁰ _⌊Just as_⌋* he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Samuel was coming. So Saul went out to meet him and to bless him.

¹¹ "I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word." _⌊Samuel became angry_⌋,* and he cried out to Yahweh all night.

² May another praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips.

¹³ He who conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes will obtain mercy.

¹³ There is a generation—how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids they will lift.

³¹ Give to her from the fruit of her hand, and may they praise her works in the city gates.

¹⁰ Thus you also, when you have done all the _⌊things you were ordered to do_⌋,* say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done what we were obligated to do.'"

¹¹ The Pharisee stood and* prayed these things with reference to himself: 'God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector!

² For he flatters himself in his eyes, hating to detect his iniquity.*

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says, "What right have you to recite my statutes and _⌊mention my covenant with your mouth_⌋,* ¹⁷ while you yourself hate discipline, and cast my words behind you? ¹⁸ When you see a thief, then you are pleased with him, and your association is with adulterers. ¹⁹ You give your mouth free rein for evil, and you harness your tongue to deceit. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your mother's son. ²¹ These things you have done, and I have been silent; You imagined that I was just like you. I will rebuke you and present an argument before your eyes.

¹⁸ And now _⌊why do you go_⌋* the way of Egypt to drink the waters of the Shihor? And _⌊why do you go_⌋* the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the _⌊Euphrates_⌋?* ¹⁹ Your wickedness will chastise you, and your apostasies will reprove you. Therefore know and see that it is evil and bitter, your forsaking of Yahweh, your God, and fear of me is not in you," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

²² For if you wash with natron, and you _⌊use much soap_⌋,* your guilt is sticking as a stain _⌊before_⌋* me," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²³ "How can you say, 'I have not defiled myself, I have not gone after the Baals?' Look at your way in the valley, know what you have done. You are a young she-camel, interweaving her ways.

³⁴ Also on your skirts is found the blood of the life of the innocent, the poor. You did not find them in the act of breaking into a house. But in spite of all these things, ³⁵ yet you say, 'But I am innocent, surely his anger has turned away from me.' Look, I am entering into judgment with you because of your saying, 'I have not sinned.' ³⁶ How you go about so much changing your way! Also by Egypt you will be put to shame, just as you were put to shame by Assyria. ³⁷ Also from there you will come out with your hands on your head, for Yahweh has rejected _⌊those in whom you trust_⌋,* and you will not prosper through them.

¹³ "Your words have been harsh* against me," says Yahweh. "But you say, 'How have we spoken together against you?' ¹⁴ You have said, 'It is useless* to serve God! What is the gain if we keep* his requirements, and if we walk as mourners _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh of hosts? ¹⁵ And now we are calling the arrogant blessed! Not only do those who do wickedness prosper; they also test God and they escape!'"

²² He said to him, '_⌊By your own words_⌋* I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law, in order that every mouth may be closed and the whole world may become accountable to God.

⁵ Therefore do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord should come, who will both enlighten the hidden things of darkness and will reveal the counsels of hearts, and then praise will come to each one from God.

¹² And the man* replied,* "The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave to me from the tree and I ate." ¹³ Then* Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

²² And Aaron said, "_⌊Let not my lord become angry_⌋.* You yourself know the people, that _⌊they are intent on evil_⌋.* ²³ And they said to me, 'Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

²¹ The troops took from the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal."

³³ _⌊Have I concealed_⌋* my transgressions as other human beings to hide my iniquity in my bosom

⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and* said, "Go, inquire carefully concerning the child, and when you have found him, report to me so that I also may come and* worship him."

²⁹ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

²⁷ As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to pass on before us. When he has passed, you stand here _⌊a while_⌋,* so that I can make known to you the word of God."

⁷ So then take your stand, so that I may judge you before Yahweh with regard to all the deeds of justice* of Yahweh that he performed with both you and your ancestors.*

¹⁶ Then the king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear that you shall not tell me anything but truth in the name of Yahweh?"

¹⁵ He said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."

²¹ Saul answered and said, "Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the humblest of all the families of the tribes of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me _⌊in this way_⌋?"*

²² So they inquired again of Yahweh, "_⌊Did the man come here_⌋?" * And Yahweh said, "Look, he is hiding himself among the baggage."

¹ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Yahweh sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. So then, _⌊listen to the words_⌋* of Yahweh! ² Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'I have observed what Amalek did to Israel, _⌊how he opposed him_⌋* when he went up from Egypt. ³ So then, go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that is his! You must not spare him, but kill both man and woman, both child and nursing infant, both ox and sheep, both camel and donkey.'"

¹ When Ephraim spoke,* there was terror; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.

⁴ Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child, this person is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,

¹³ Now the men of Sodom _⌊were extremely wicked sinners against Yahweh_⌋.*

¹⁶ And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites _⌊is not yet complete_⌋."*

³⁸ The censers of these _⌊who have sinned_⌋* at the cost of their lives, let them be made into gilded leafing plating for the altar; because they presented them _⌊before Yahweh_⌋,* they are holy; and they will be a sign for the _⌊Israelites_⌋.'"*

³ Is not disaster for the evil one and ruin for the workers of mischief?

²⁹ A stronghold for the upright is the way of Yahweh, but ruin belongs to _⌊evildoers_⌋.*

²¹ Misfortune will pursue sinners, but the righteous _⌊will be rewarded with prosperity_⌋.*

³² Then the troops took the plunder: they took sheep and cattle and _⌊calves_⌋* and slaughtered them on the ground and the troops ate them all with the blood.

² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to the detestable things of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

⁶ And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.

¹² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet _⌊who spoke for_⌋* Yahweh.

²⁷ He who makes trouble for his house is he who is greedy for unjust gain, but he who hates bribes will live.

¹¹ Has this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it," * _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁹ Woe to him who obtains profit from evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be saved from the hand of misfortune! ¹⁰ You have plotted shame for your house, cutting off many peoples and sinning against your life. ¹¹ For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the plaster from the wood will answer it. ¹² Woe to him who builds a city by bloodguilt, and who founds a city by wickedness!

¹⁰ For Demas deserted me, because he* loved the present age, and went to Thessalonica. Crescens went to Galatia; Titus went to Dalmatia.

⁸ He captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, but all the people he utterly destroyed with the _⌊edge_⌋* of the sword.

¹³ When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, "May you be blessed by Yahweh! I have kept the word of Yahweh."

⁹ 'I am clean, without transgression; I am pure, and there is no guilt in me.

⁵ for Job has said, 'I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice.

² "Do you think this is justice when you say, '_⌊I am right_⌋* before God'?

⁸ "Indeed, would you annul my justice? Would you condemn me, so that you might be righteous?

²⁰ The young man said to him, "All these I have observed. What do I still lack?"

³ For ignoring the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own,* they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

¹³ Then* Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

⁵ And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, _⌊for all the earth is mine_⌋,*

⁶ A sacrifice and offering you do not desire. _⌊My ears you have opened_⌋.* Burnt offering and sin offering you have not demanded. ⁷ Then I said, "Look, I come. In the scroll of the book it is written concerning me: ⁸ 'I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law is _⌊deep within me_⌋.'"*

⁸ It is not concerning a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you, and your burnt offerings are before me continually. ⁹ I will not take from your house a bull or from your stalls a he-goat,

¹⁶ For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it. With a burnt offering you are not pleased. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

³ Doing righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.

¹ * Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

¹¹ What is the abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals and I do not delight in the blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts? ¹³ You must not _⌊continue_⌋* to bring offerings* of futility, incense—it is an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, the calling of a convocation— I cannot endure iniquity with solemn assembly. ¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like a burden, I am not able to bear them. ¹⁵ And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers,* I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil! ¹⁷ Learn to do good! Seek justice! Rescue the oppressed! Defend the orphan! Plead for the widow!

²² For I did not speak with your ancestors,* nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. ²³ But I only commanded them this word, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.'

⁴ which I commanded your ancestors* in the day of my bringing them from the land of Egypt, from the furnace of iron, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Listen to my voice and do according to all that I command you, _⌊so will you be my people, and I will be your God_⌋.'*

⁷ for I solemnly admonished your ancestors* in the day of my leading them out from the land of Egypt and up to this day, _⌊admonishing persistently_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* "Obey my voice."

¹³ Now _⌊therefore_⌋* amend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and Yahweh will relent of the disaster that he has spoken over you.

⁶ Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

²¹ "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your assemblies. ²² Yes, even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals. ²³ Remove from me the noise of your songs, and I do not want to hear the melody of your harps! ²⁴ But let justice roll on like the water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

⁶ With what shall I approach Yahweh, and bow down to God on high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with bull calves a year old? ⁷ Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and first go be reconciled to your brother, and then come and* present your gift.

¹³ But go and* learn what it means, "I want mercy and not sacrifice."* For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

⁷ And if you had known what _⌊it means_⌋,* 'I want mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.

²³ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you pay a tenth of mint and dill and cumin, and neglect the more important matters of the law—justice and mercy and faithfulness! It was necessary* to do these things _⌊while not neglecting those_⌋.*

³³ And to love him from your* whole heart and from your* whole understanding and from your* whole strength, and to love your* neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when he* came into the world, he said,
"Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you prepared for me; ⁶ you did not delight in whole burnt offerings and offerings for sins. ⁷ Then I said, 'Behold, I have come— in the roll of the book it is written about me— to do your will, O God.' ⁸ When he says above,
"Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not want, nor did you delight in,"*
which are offered according to the law, ⁹ then he has said,
"Behold, I have come to do your will."*
He takes away the first in order to establish the second, ¹⁰ by which will we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹⁹ Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols* that belonged to her father.

³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them in the saddle bag of the camel and sat on them. And Jacob searched the whole tent thoroughly but did not find them.

¹⁸ " 'You will not let a witch live.

⁶ As for* the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set* my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.

²⁷ " 'And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones*—their blood is on them.'"

⁹ Only do not rebel against Yahweh, and you will not fear the people of the land, because they will be our food. _⌊Their protection_⌋* has been turned from them; Yahweh is with us. You should not fear them."

⁷ Remember, _⌊do not forget_⌋,* that you provoked Yahweh your God in the desert, and from the day that you went out from the land of Egypt until _⌊you came to this place_⌋* you were rebelling against Yahweh.

²⁴ You have been rebellious toward Yahweh _⌊from the day I have known you_⌋.*

¹⁰ There shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, or _⌊one who practices divination_⌋,* or an interpreter of signs,* or an augur,* or sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who casts magic spells, or one who consults a spirit of the dead,* or spiritist, or one who inquires of the dead.*

¹⁶ "Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: 'What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh? ¹⁷ Is not the sin of Peor _⌊enough for us_⌋,* from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh, ¹⁸ that you must turn today from following Yahweh? If you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel; ¹⁹ if, however, the land of your property is unclean, cross over to the land of Yahweh's property, where Yahweh's tabernacle resides,* and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God.

³⁰ Therefore,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh the God of Israel, 'though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor* would walk before me forever, but now,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt!

¹⁴ If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not be rebellious against _⌊what Yahweh says_⌋,* and both you and the king who rules over you will follow after Yahweh your God, all will be well. ¹⁵ But, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you rebel against _⌊what Yahweh says_⌋,* then the hand of Yahweh will be against you* as it was against your ancestors.*

¹⁴ But now, your kingdom will not endure. Yahweh has sought for himself a man according to his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as leader over his people, because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you."

¹ Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "_⌊How long_⌋* will you mourn about Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel! Fill up your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for myself among his sons."

¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. ¹⁸ So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone. ¹⁹ Even Judah did not keep the commands of Yahweh their God, and they walked in the customs of Israel which they introduced, ²⁰ so Yahweh rejected all the offspring of Israel and punished them, and he gave them into the hand of the plunderers until he banished them from his presence.

⁹ "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and all thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever.

³⁷ for he adds transgression to his sin; he claps hands among us, and he multiplies his words against God.'"

¹¹ because they rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High,

¹⁹ Now if they tell you, "Consult the ghosts and the spirits, those who chirp and those who mutter. Should not a people consult its gods, the dead on behalf of the living,

³ And the spirit of _⌊the Egyptians_⌋* will be disturbed in his midst, and I will _⌊confuse_⌋* his plans,* and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, and the ghosts and the spiritists.

¹⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I am going to send you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.'"

³² _⌊therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, "Look, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There will not be for him a man who lives in the midst of this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do to my people," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "For he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh." '"

⁵ And they, whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst. ⁶ And you, son of man,* you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, because* briers and thorns are with you, and you are sitting among scorpions. You must not be afraid of their words, and you must not be dismayed because of their _⌊looks_⌋,* for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are rebellious. ⁸ And you, son of man,* hear what I am speaking to you: you must not be rebellious like the house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you."

¹⁶ And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said,
"I will live in* them and will walk about among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people."*

²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions,

⁸ But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

¹⁵ Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral people and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and who practices falsehood.

¹⁷ And to Adam* he said, "Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree _⌊from which I forbade you to eat_⌋,*
the ground shall be cursed on your account. In pain you shall eat from it all the days of your life.

²⁷ And Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I have sinned this time. Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones.

¹⁶ And Pharaoh hurried to call Moses and Aaron, and he said, "I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you.

² You will not _⌊follow_⌋* a majority* for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority* to pervert justice.

³⁴ Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, "I have sinned because I did not know that you were standing to meet me in the road. Now, _⌊if it is displeasing to you_⌋,* I will turn back."

²⁹ Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel?

³⁰ Then he* said, "I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me _⌊so that I can worship_⌋* Yahweh your God."

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against Yahweh!"* Nathan said to David, "Yahweh has also forgiven your sin; you shall not die.

³⁴ because I dreaded the great multitude, and the contempt of clans terrified me, so that I kept quiet, I did not go out of the doorway?

²⁵ The fear of a person will lay a snare, but he who trusts in Yahweh will be secure.

¹² "I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that* you are afraid of man? He dies! And of the son of humankind? He is _⌊sacrificed_⌋* as grass! ¹³ And you have forgotten Yahweh, your maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth. And you tremble continually, all day, because of the wrath of the oppressor when he _⌊takes aim_⌋* to destroy. But* where is the wrath of the oppressor?

⁵ And Zedekiah the king said, "Look, he is in your hand, for the king is not able to do a thing against you."

⁴ saying, "I have sinned by* betraying innocent blood!" But they said, "What is that to us? You see to it!"*

²⁰ And Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them** again, ²¹ but they kept crying out, saying, "Crucify! Crucify him!" ²² So he said to them a third time, "Why? What wrong has this man done? I found no basis for an accusation _⌊deserving death_⌋* in him. Therefore I will punish him and* release him."* ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he be crucified. And their cries prevailed. ²⁴ And Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ And he released the one who had been thrown into prison because of insurrection and murder, whom they were asking for, but Jesus he handed over to their will.

¹⁰ For am I now making an appeal to people or to God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

¹⁷ And now forgive my sin surely this time, and pray to Yahweh your God so that he may only remove from me this death."

³⁸ But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone remains. If harm meets him on the journey that you would take, you would bring down my gray head in sorrow to Sheol."

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so then do this. Take some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, and pistachios and almonds. ¹² And take double the money in your hands. Take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ And take your brother. Now arise and return to the man. ¹⁴ And may El-Shaddai* grant you compassion before the man that he may release your other brother to you and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."

²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination; arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king!"

³¹ So Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul _⌊worshiped_⌋* Yahweh.

¹⁹ Hear, O earth, look, I am about to bring disaster to this people, the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened attentively to my words, and my teaching, they have rejected it also.

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from acting as a priest for me.* And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.*

²⁸ And they drew near to the village where they were going, and he acted as though he was going farther. ²⁹ And they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is getting toward evening, and by this time the day is far spent." And he went in to stay with them.

¹¹ because the one who speaks a greeting to him shares in his evil deeds.

³⁰ Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes,

⁷ Yahweh makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and also exalts. ⁸ He raises up the poor from the dust. From the ash heap he lifts up the needy, to cause them to sit with noble people and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh and he has set the inhabited world on them.

¹² So he sent and brought him. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and of _⌊handsome_⌋* appearance. And Yahweh said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he."

¹⁷ Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David. ¹⁸ Because you _⌊did not obey_⌋* Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his _⌊wrath_⌋* against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today.

⁵ "I have made the earth with humankind and animals* that are on the face of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes. ⁶ And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and also the animals* of the field I have given to him to serve him.

¹⁷ The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the decision by the command of the holy ones, _⌊in order that_⌋* the living will know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind, and _⌊to whomever_⌋* he wills he gives it, and he even sets the humblest of men over it."

³² and you will be driven away from _⌊human society_⌋* and your dwelling will be with the animals* of the field and they will cause you to graze the grass like oxen, and seven times will pass over you, until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind and that he gives it to whom he wills.'

¹¹ Jesus replied to him, "You would not have any authority over me unless it was given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has greater sin."

²² And after* removing him, he raised up David for their king, about whom he also said, testifying, 'I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man in accordance with my heart, who will carry out all my will.'*

¹ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God.

²⁸ Say to them, 'Surely as I live,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'just as you spoke _⌊in my hearing_⌋,* so I will do to you; ²⁹ in this desert your corpses will fall, and all your counted ones, according to all your number, from _⌊twenty years old_⌋* and above who grumbled against me.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of humankind, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? And has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

²⁷ The God of _⌊ancient time_⌋* is a hiding place, and underneath are the arms of eternity,* and he drove out _⌊from before_⌋* you your enemy, and he said, 'Destroy them!'

¹¹ To you, O Yahweh, is the greatness and the power and the splendor and the glory and the strength, for everything in the heavens and in the earth. Yours, O Yahweh, is the kingdom and exaltation over all as head!

¹¹ May Yahweh give strength to his people. May Yahweh bless his people with peace.

³⁵ Awesome are you, O God, from your sanctuary.* The God of Israel, it is he who gives strength and might to the people. Blessed be God.

¹¹ Therefore I swore in my anger, 'They shall surely not enter into my rest.'"

²⁴ 'Only in Yahweh,' one shall say to me, 'are righteousness and strength.' He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed.

¹⁴ I, Yahweh, I have spoken. It is coming, and I did it; I will not disregard, and I will not take pity, and I will not reconsider. According to your ways and according to your deeds they will judge you!"* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁶ And Yahweh roars from Zion; from Jerusalem he utters his voice, and the heavens and the earth shake. But Yahweh is a refuge for his people, and a protection for the children of Israel.

⁹ And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, because the* power is perfected in weakness." Therefore rather I will boast most gladly in my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may reside in me.

¹³ I am able to do all things by the one who strengthens me.

¹³ if we are unfaithful, he remains faithful—_⌊he cannot deny himself_⌋*.*

² in the hope of eternal life which God, who does not lie, promised before eternal ages,

¹⁸ in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us,

¹³ And the Lord said,
"Because this people draw near with its mouth, and with its lips it honors me, and its heart is far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught,

⁴ Look! His spirit within him is puffed up; it is not upright. But the righteous shall live by his faithfulness.

⁹ And he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and looked down on _⌊everyone else_⌋:* ¹⁰ "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and* prayed these things with reference to himself: 'God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector! ¹² I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.' ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

⁴⁴ How are you able to believe, if you* accept glory from one another, and do not seek the glory which is from the only God?

⁴³ For they loved the praise of men more than praise from God.

⁵ maintaining a form of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid these people.

⁴⁴ "He who flees _⌊before_⌋* the dread will fall into the pit, and the one who climbs up from the pit will be caught in the trapping net, for I will bring on Moab the year of their punishment," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

³ Whenever they say "Peace and security," then sudden destruction will overtake them like the birth pains of _⌊a pregnant woman_⌋*, and they will not possibly escape.

⁷ As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, give to her so much torment and mourning, because in her heart she said, 'I sit as a queen, and am not a widow, and I will never see mourning!'

⁶ "As for the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

¹¹ And* when Moses raised his hand, Israel would prevail, but when he rested his hand, Amalek would prevail.

⁴⁵ So the Amalekites* and the Canaanites* who were living on the mountain descended, and they beat them down, up to Hormah.

⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest saw, he got up from the midst of the community and took a spear in his hand. ⁸ He went after the man of Israel into the woman's section of the tent, and he drove the two of them, the man of Israel and the woman, into her belly. And the plague among the _⌊Israelites_⌋* stopped.

⁷ Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with _⌊their thumbs and big toes_⌋* cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁴⁰ Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any man of them escape!" So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the wadi* of Kishon and killed them there.

⁶ _⌊Yahweh has a sword_⌋;*
it is full of blood. It is covered with* fat, with* the blood of lambs and goats, with* the fat of the kidneys of rams, for _⌊Yahweh has a sacrifice_⌋* in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

¹⁰ The one who does the work of Yahweh with slackness is cursed, and the one who keeps away blood from his sword is cursed.

² For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you.

¹³ For judgment is merciless to the one who has not practiced mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

⁶ because they have poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; they are deserving!"

⁶ Pay back to her as she herself also paid out, and _⌊pay back double_⌋* according to her deeds; in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.

¹⁷ Then _⌊he returned_⌋* to Ramah, because his house was there, and there he judged Israel, and he built an altar to Yahweh there.

⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, _⌊they reported these things to_⌋* the people. Then all the people lifted up their voices and wept.

²⁴ He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

¹⁵⁸ I see the treacherous and I feel disgust, because they do not heed your word.

¹ * _⌊Oh that my head were waters_⌋,* and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night, for the slain of the daughter of my people. ² _⌊Oh that I had_⌋* in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors.

¹⁸ For many live, of whom I spoke about to you many times, but now speak about even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ,