He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant ¹  this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” ² 

Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah – the battle was fierce. ¹  But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. ² 

When the people ¹  of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked ²  both us and our god Dagon!”

There was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. So whenever Saul saw anyone who was a warrior or a brave individual, he would conscript him.

Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy, ¹  not having eaten anything ²  all that day and night.

Just as he finished speaking, the king’s sons arrived, wailing and weeping. ¹  The king and all his servants wept loudly ²  as well.

After this ¹  the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe.

When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, ¹  he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack ²  the king of Edom, but they failed.

This made the king of Syria upset. ¹  So he summoned his advisers ²  and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.” ³ 

“The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust ¹  invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, ²  or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, ¹  as they acknowledge their intense pain ²  and spread out their hands toward this temple,

So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

I decided ¹  to carefully ²  and thoroughly examine ³  all that has been accomplished on earth. ⁴  I concluded: ⁵  God has given people ⁶  a burdensome task ⁷  that keeps them ⁸  occupied. ⁹ 

At that time ¹  the Lord will punish with his destructive, ²  great, and powerful sword Leviathan the fast-moving ³  serpent, Leviathan the squirming serpent; he will kill the sea monster. ⁴ 

But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ¹  I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride. I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ²  because you, the Lord’s flock, ³  will be carried ⁴  into exile.”

“‘Do not weep for the king who was killed. Do not grieve for him. But weep mournfully for the king who has gone into exile. For he will never return to see his native land again. ¹ 

So if a prophet prophesied ¹  peace and prosperity, it was only known that the Lord truly sent him when what he prophesied came true.”

ב (Bet) She weeps bitterly at night; tears stream down her cheeks. ¹  She has no one to comfort her among all her lovers. ²  All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

It is sharpened for slaughter, it is polished to flash like lightning! “‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree! ¹ 

When the king heard this, ¹  he was very upset and began thinking about ²  how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon ³  he was struggling to find a way to rescue him.