The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

You must fight ¹  until the Lord gives your countrymen victory ²  as he did you and they take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then each of you may return to his own territory that I have given you.”

Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind ¹  on the earth, and ask ²  from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.

Keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth ¹  today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you as a permanent possession.

Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you.

You will not be allowed to eat in your villages your tithe of grain, new wine, olive oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, any votive offerings you have vowed, or your freewill and personal offerings.

Then the Levites (because they have no allotment or inheritance with you), the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows of your villages may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work you do.

At that time ¹  my anger will erupt against them ²  and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome ³  them ⁴  so that they ⁵  will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters ⁶  overcome us ⁷  because our ⁸  God is not among us ⁹ ?’

When we invade the land ¹ , tie this red rope ²  in the window through which you let us down, and gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and all who live in your father’s house. ³ 

Now the Lord your God has made your fellow Israelites secure, ¹  just as he promised them. So now you may turn around and go to your homes ²  in your own land ³  which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned to you east of the Jordan.

Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord by turning back today from following after the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace ¹  aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!” ² 

Boaz replied to her, ¹  “I have been given a full report of ²  all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband – how you left ³  your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously. ⁴ 

Taking an oath, David again ¹  said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact ²  that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, ³  ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!”

Then David instructed his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So each one strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men followed David up, while two hundred stayed behind with the equipment.

David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies ¹  by going through the water tunnel.” ²  For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.” ³ 

David was told, ¹  “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David.

When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, ¹  Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to meet him. ²  She said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished ³  himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants’ slave girls the way a vulgar fool ⁴  might do!”

Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ¹  on the earth? Their God ²  went ³  to claim ⁴  a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, ⁵  before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ⁶ 

Amasa was squirming in his own blood in the middle of the path, and this man had noticed that all the soldiers stopped. Having noticed that everyone who came across Amasa ¹  stopped, the man ²  pulled him ³  away from the path and into the field and threw a garment over him.

The king’s servants have even come to congratulate ¹  our master ²  King David, saying, ‘May your God ³  make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ ⁴  Then the king leaned ⁵  on the bed