I cry out ¹  until morning; like a lion he shatters all my bones; you turn day into night and end my life. ² 

he ¹  went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan ²  from the leaders ³  of Jabesh Gilead. (They had secretly taken ⁴  them from the plaza at Beth Shan. It was there that Philistines ⁵  publicly exposed their corpses ⁶  after ⁷  they ⁸  had killed Saul at Gilboa.)

God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull; they will devour hostile people ¹  and will break their bones and will pierce them through with arrows.

One day some men ¹  were burying a man when they spotted ²  a raiding party. So they threw the dead man ³  into Elisha’s tomb. When the body ⁴  touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man ⁵  came to life and stood on his feet.

“The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. ¹  Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones. ² 

When the scouts survey ¹  the land and see a human bone, they will place a sign by it, until those assigned to burial duty have buried it ²  in the valley of Hamon-Gog.

“Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ² 

With all my strength I will say, ¹  “O Lord, who can compare to you? You rescue ²  the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; ³  the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.” ⁴ 

My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, ¹  as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ² 

Just as you do not know the path ¹  of the wind, or how the bones form ²  in the womb of a pregnant woman, ³  so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

He made me walk all around among them. ¹  I realized ²  there were a great many bones in the valley and they were very dry.

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, ¹  mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel ²  and gave instructions about his burial. ³ 

This is what the Lord says: “Because Moab has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. ⁴ 

Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” ¹  So Jacob ²  stayed with him for a month. ³ 

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood! ¹ 

You are my brothers – my very own flesh and blood! ¹  Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back?’

All Israel joined David at Hebron and said, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood! ¹ 

They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything ¹  that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers ²  for the land.

They are absolutely terrified, ¹  even by things that do not normally cause fear. ²  For God annihilates ³  those who attack you. ⁴  You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them. ⁵ 

I am so starved my knees shake; ¹  I have turned into skin and bones. ²