They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ¹  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ²  them and made the Lord angry.

But they did not obey ¹  their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped ²  them. They quickly turned aside from the path ³  their ancestors ⁴  had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. ⁵ 

Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Greetings!” ¹  He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, “May the Lord your God be praised because he has defeated ²  the men who opposed ³  my lord the king!”

His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky ¹  and worshiped ²  them.

For this reason my stomach churns; ¹  cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed ²  by what I hear, horrified by what I see.

As he was saying these things, a ruler came, bowed low before him, and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.”

So the Tekoan woman went ¹  to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me, ²  O king!”

He followed in the footsteps of his father ¹  and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols ²  which his father had worshiped. ³ 

Proud men will be brought low, arrogant men will be humiliated; ¹  the Lord alone will be exalted ²  in that day.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed down with his face to the ground ¹  and paid homage to Daniel. He gave orders to offer sacrifice and incense to him.

And a leper ¹  approached, and bowed low before him, saying, ²  “Lord, if ³  you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ¹  and God said to him, ² 

So Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked ¹  the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your ²  servant!”

They made an image of a calf at Horeb, and worshiped a metal idol.

We are pursued – they are breathing down our necks; ¹  we are weary and have no rest. ² 

But she came and bowed down ¹  before him and said, ²  “Lord, help me!”

Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ¹  as he said to himself, ²  “Can ³  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁴  Can Sarah ⁵  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁶ 

He answered, ¹  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ²  Now I have arrived!” ³  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ⁴  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”