and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve ¹  me,’ but since you have refused to let him go, ²  I will surely kill ³  your son, your firstborn!”’”

¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people that they may serve me!

So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our ¹  men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” ¹  So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

He took the Book of the Covenant ¹  and read it aloud ²  to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey ³  all that the Lord has spoken.”

Moses instructed them to take ¹  his message ²  throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more. ³ 

“‘Whenever ¹  a leader, by straying unintentionally, ²  sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, ³  and he pleads guilty,

“If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated ¹  (although he did not know it at the time, ²  but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity ³ 

but you must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent lest you die, for the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So they acted according to the word of Moses.

And early ¹  in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, ²  saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, ³  for we have sinned.” ⁴ 

I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ¹  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ²  and judge fairly, ³  whether between one citizen and another ⁴  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ⁵ 

Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he ¹  has forbidden ²  you.

and the Lord ¹  commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” ² 

Caleb son of Jephunneh was assigned Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron) within the tribe of Judah, according to the Lord’s instructions to Joshua. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹ 

As the Lord had instructed, they gave him the city he requested – Timnath Serah in the Ephraimite hill country. He built up the city and lived in it.

The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! ¹  He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.”

So Saul said to the army that was with him, “Muster the troops and see who is no longer with us.” When they mustered the troops, ¹  Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded ¹  and what you said as well. ²  For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. ³ 

The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family ¹  the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds. ² 

His servant Zimri, a commander of half of his chariot force, conspired against him. While Elah was drinking heavily ¹  at the house of Arza, who supervised the palace in Tirzah,