Now Joshua had instructed the army, ¹  “Do not give a battle cry ²  or raise your voices; say nothing ³  until the day I tell you, ‘Give the battle cry.’ ⁴  Then give the battle cry!” ⁵ 

I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, ¹  two hundred silver pieces, ²  and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent with the silver underneath.”

All Jerusalem was terrified ¹  because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors.

The whole hill country ¹  will be yours; though it is a forest, you can clear it and it will be entirely yours. ²  You can conquer the Canaanites, though they have chariots with iron-rimmed wheels and are strong.”

So Gideon took ten of his servants ¹  and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family ²  and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. ³ 

He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me ¹  the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” ² 

She asked, ¹  ‘May I follow the harvesters and gather ²  grain among the bundles?’ ³  Since she arrived she has been working hard ⁴  from this morning until now ⁵  – except for ⁶  sitting ⁷  in the resting hut ⁸  a short time.” ⁹ 

But Jonathan had not heard about the oath his father had made the army take. He extended the end of his staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. When he ate it, ¹  his eyes gleamed. ² 

¹  Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.

He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord, who is the Lord’s chosen one, ¹  by extending my hand against him. After all, ²  he is the Lord’s chosen one.” ³ 

Saul replied to David, “May you be rewarded, ¹  my son David! You will without question be successful!” ²  So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, “God will punish me severely ¹  if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!”

He took the crown of their king ¹  from his head – it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, ²  and held a precious stone – and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder.

But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom ¹  pressed ²  him, the king ³  was not willing to go. Instead, David ⁴  blessed him.

In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west ¹  on a road beside the hill.

The woman said, “Why have you devised something like this against God’s people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished.

All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God make the army a hundred times larger right before the eyes of my lord the king! But why does my master the king want to do this?”

I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! ¹  Your wisdom and wealth ²  surpass what was reported to me.

Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, ¹  “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. ²  As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.”