For ¹  he chose us in Christ ²  before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished ³  in his sight ⁴  in love. ⁵ 

He and all his men ¹  went up on Mount Zalmon. He ²  took an ax ³  in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it ⁴  on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!” ⁵ 

He took his staff in his hand, picked out five smooth stones from the stream, placed them in the pouch ¹  of his shepherd’s bag, took his sling in hand, and approached the Philistine.

Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. ¹  He picked some of its fruit, ²  enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices ³  into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful. ⁴ 

The Lord God of Israel chose me out of my father’s entire family to become king over Israel and have a permanent dynasty. ¹  Indeed, ²  he chose Judah as leader, and my father’s family within Judah, and then he picked me out from among my father’s sons and made me king over all Israel. ³ 

I will leave you in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your waterways; you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected. ¹  I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.

Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ¹  he had Simeon taken ²  from them and tied up ³  before their eyes.

When Joseph looked up ¹  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ² 

and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, ¹  and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. ²  Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.

When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff ¹  between two men, as well as some of the pomegranates and the figs.

I myself have chosen ¹  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ²  of the tent of meeting.

Then they took ¹  some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”

However, only to your ancestors did he ¹  show his loving favor, ²  and he chose you, their descendants, ³  from all peoples – as is apparent today.

Joshua told the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah. ¹ 

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 

The rest ¹  turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites ²  caught ³  five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels ⁴  all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw ¹  how much grain ²  she had gathered. Then Ruth ³  gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime. ⁴ 

But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged ¹  him to eat, so he gave in. ²  He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed.