Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his ¹  enemies.’” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)

You will cultivate ¹  the land for him – you and your sons and your servants. You will bring its produce ²  and it will be ³  food for your master’s grandson to eat. ⁴  But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will be a regular guest at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s other hand, and Joab ¹  stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa’s ²  intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal. ³  Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah’s behalf. The king got up to greet ¹  her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king’s mother, ²  and she sat at his right hand.

Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her to the City of David ¹  until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. ² 

Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, ¹  like the festival celebrated in Judah. ²  On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. ³  In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made.

So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said, ¹  “I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.” ²  He lay down on his bed, pouted, ³  and would not eat.

An officer who was the king’s right-hand man ¹  responded to the prophet, ²  “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” ³  Elisha ⁴  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” ⁵ 

But the officer replied to the prophet, “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” ¹  Elisha ²  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” ³ 

But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, ¹  “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do, ²  and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do. ³  A man must be put to death only for his own sin.” ⁴ 

When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; ¹  he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah ²  turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this. ³ 

He met ¹  Asa and told him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him. ²  If you seek him, he will respond to you, ³  but if you reject him, he will reject you.

He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. ¹  They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned, ²  “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place. ³ 

However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, ¹  “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do, ²  and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do. ³  A man must be executed only for his own sin.” ⁴ 

He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down, ¹  and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols and images, crushed them up and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them.

The king stood by his pillar ¹  and renewed ²  the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow ³  the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, ⁴  by carrying out the terms ⁵  of this covenant recorded on this scroll.

When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a ¹  covenant with him to give his descendants ²  the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, ³  for you are righteous.

When ¹  the days of their feasting were finished, ²  Job would send ³  for them and sanctify ⁴  them; he would get up early ⁵  in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to ⁶  the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps ⁷  my children ⁸  have sinned and cursed ⁹  God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice.

God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart ¹  desires, ²  yet God does not enable ³  him to enjoy ⁴  the fruit of his labor ⁵  – instead, someone else ⁶  enjoys ⁷  it! ⁸  This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. ⁹ 

Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me: “The Lord will be like a growling lion, like a young lion growling over its prey. ¹  Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it, it is not afraid of their shouts or intimidated by their yelling. ²  In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³