At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ¹  “The man who attempts to rebuild ²  this city of Jericho ³  will stand condemned before the Lord. ⁴  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ⁵ 

‘“Know for sure that I saw the shed blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday,” says the Lord, “and that I will give you what you deserve right here in this plot of land,” ¹  says the Lord.’ So now pick him up and throw him into this plot of land, just as the Lord said.” ² 

They went inside to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside. He had told them, “If any of the men inside get away, you will pay with your lives!” ¹ 

He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah, ¹  residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic ²  because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

“I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ¹ 

“Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” ¹  But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me.

“Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar ¹  of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. ²  Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.

The ships of Kittim ¹  will come against him, leaving him disheartened. ²  He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor ³  those who forsake the holy covenant.

I will destroy her vines and fig trees, about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution ¹  that my lovers gave to me!” I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees ²  into an uncultivated thicket, so that wild animals ³  will devour them.

Her ¹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ²  her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust ³  the Lord and say, “The Lord is among us. ⁴  Disaster will not overtake ⁵  us!”

“Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the Lord.

But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. ¹  Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

“Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ²  of mint, dill, and cumin, ³  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁴  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ¹  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ²  Then the Lord put a special mark ³  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ⁴ 

if he will sell ¹  me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly ²  for the full price, ³  so that I may own it as a burial site.”

Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ¹ 

Take double the money with you; ¹  you must take back ²  the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight.

But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ¹  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ² 

Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ¹  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ² 

¹ Moses answered again, ²  “And if ³  they do not believe me or pay attention to me, ⁴  but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”