So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah.

They observed a time of fasting and put Naboth in front of the people.

The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹ 

The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹ 

When they heard the law, they removed from Israel all who were of mixed ancestry.

The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves – to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, ¹  and to confiscate their property.

The people say, ¹  “Why are we just sitting here? Let us gather together inside the fortified cities. ²  Let us at least die there fighting, ³  since the Lord our God has condemned us to die. He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment ⁴  because we have sinned against him. ⁵ 

ס (Samek) He rounded up ¹  all my mighty ones; ²  The Lord ³  did this ⁴  in ⁵  my midst. He summoned an assembly ⁶  against me to shatter my young men. The Lord has stomped like grapes ⁷  the virgin daughter, Judah. ⁸ 

Sheba and Dedan and the traders of Tarshish with all its young warriors ¹  will say to you, “Have you come to loot? Have you assembled your armies to plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to haul away a great amount of spoils?”’

So what will you do on the festival day, on the festival days of the Lord?

But the crowd ¹  began to shout, ²  “The voice of a god, ³  and not of a man!”

Both the apostles and the elders met together to deliberate ¹  about this matter.

(Now there were many lamps ¹  in the upstairs room where we were meeting.) ² 

The next day, because the commanding officer ¹  wanted to know the true reason ²  Paul ³  was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council ⁴  to assemble. He then brought ⁵  Paul down and had him stand before them.

All the men who assembled at the city gate ¹  agreed with ²  Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate ³  was circumcised.

“Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly ¹  good land.

And they stood before Moses and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said,

Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community ¹  sealed it with an oath. ² 

Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.