Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ¹  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ²  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ³  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ⁴ 

honey, curds, flocks, and cheese. ¹  For they said, “The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert.” ² 

Tomorrow march down against them as ¹  they come up the Ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the ravine in front of the Desert of Jeruel.

When the men of Judah ¹  arrived at the observation post overlooking the desert and looked at ²  the huge army, they saw dead bodies on the ground; there were no survivors!

I will make streams flow down the slopes and produce springs in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water and the arid land into springs.

They will not be hungry or thirsty; the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, ¹  for one who has compassion on them will guide them; he will lead them to springs of water.

I also swore ¹  to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them to the land I had given them – a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

“‘But I said to their children ¹  in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, ²  nor defile yourselves with their idols.

The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, ¹  including all kinds of men; ²  even Sabeans ³  were brought from the desert. The sisters ⁴  put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

“‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely ¹  in the wilderness and even sleep in the woods. ² 

I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I led you through the wilderness for forty years so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.

While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ¹  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ² 

The next morning ¹  Jesus ²  departed and went to a deserted place. Yet ³  the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them.

When ¹  John’s messengers had gone, Jesus ²  began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ³  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁴ 

“When an unclean spirit ¹  goes out of a person, ²  it passes through waterless places ³  looking for rest but ⁴  not finding any. Then ⁵  it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ⁶ 

This is the man who was in the congregation ¹  in the wilderness ²  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ³  and he ⁴  received living oracles ⁵  to give to you. ⁶ 

That is why the well was called ¹  Beer Lahai Roi. ²  (It is located ³  between Kadesh and Bered.)

He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ¹  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ² 

just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ¹  at the entrance of Hamath. ²