Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the Lord saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”(21:1) ¹ Then David ²  got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the city.

When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, ¹  they ²  sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, ³  in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. ⁴ 

David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing upset you. ¹  There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. ²  Press the battle against the city and conquer ³  it.’ Encourage him with these words.” ⁴ 

Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, “What city are you from?” The person would answer, “I, your servant, ¹  am from one of the tribes of Israel.”

But the king said to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you! I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver. ¹ 

Elisha ¹  went back and took his pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He cooked the meat over a fire that he made by burning the harness and yoke. ²  He gave the people meat and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and became his assistant.

Josiah also got rid of ¹  the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, ²  the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, ³  and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law ⁴  recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple.

Who stirs up this one from the east? ¹  Who ²  officially commissions him for service? ³  He hands nations over to him, ⁴  and enables him to subdue ⁵  kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, like windblown straw with his bow. ⁶ 

This is what the Lord says: “Where is your mother’s divorce certificate by which I divorced her? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ¹  Look, you were sold because of your sins; ²  because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ³ 

This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful ¹  in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. ²  They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,’ says the Lord.” ³ 

Then Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on this scroll everything that had been on the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned in the fire. They also added on this scroll several other messages of the same kind. ¹ 

But they rebelled against me, and refused to listen to me; no one got rid of their detestable idols, ¹  nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out ²  my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

Once ¹  the head of the house ²  gets up ³  and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, ⁴  let us in!’ ⁵  But he will answer you, ⁶  ‘I don’t know where you come from.’ ⁷ 

Now Herod ¹  was having an angry quarrel ²  with the people of Tyre ³  and Sidon. ⁴  So they joined together ⁵  and presented themselves before him. And after convincing ⁶  Blastus, the king’s personal assistant, ⁷  to help them, ⁸  they asked for peace, ⁹  because their country’s food supply was provided by the king’s country.

And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning, ¹  “Woe, Woe, O great city – in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth – because in a single hour she has been destroyed!” ² 

Now ¹  the man had marital relations with ²  his wife Eve, and she became pregnant ³  and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created ⁴  a man just as the Lord did!” ⁵ 

And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, ¹  and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; ²  she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

and he did treat Abram well ¹  on account of her. Abram received ²  sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. ¹ 

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. ¹  When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, ²  but some survivors ³  fled to the hills. ⁴