For ¹  the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, ²  I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, ³  that I may know ⁴  what I should do to you.’” ⁵ 

‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ¹  the commandment ²  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ³  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Otherwise the people of the land ¹  from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” ² 

The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath. ¹  They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites ²  living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.

then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” ¹  If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word ²  correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.

So Saul ¹  crossed through the hill country of Ephraim, passing through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. So they crossed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he crossed through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them.

Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem ¹  against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites ²  said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.

When the king heard what the prophet ¹  cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand ²  and ordered, ³  “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up ⁴  and he could not pull it back.

An officer who was the king’s right-hand man ¹  responded to the prophet, ²  “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” ³  Elisha ⁴  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” ⁵ 

But the officer replied to the prophet, “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” ¹  Elisha ²  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” ³ 

The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, manned their posts, as prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s prophet. ¹  The guards at the various gates did not need to leave their posts, for their fellow Levites made preparations for them.

I opened for my beloved, but my lover had already turned ¹  and gone away. ²  I fell into despair ³  when he departed. ⁴  I looked for him but did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.

There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten – two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches,” says the Lord God of Israel.

Finally the Lord could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses. ¹ 

The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ¹ ) was too heavy to be weighed.

Then ¹  one who appeared to be a human being ²  was touching my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak, saying to the one who was standing before me, “Sir, ³  due to the vision, anxiety has gripped me and I have no strength.

But as the man ¹  went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus ²  was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still ³  they kept coming ⁴  to him from everywhere.

You people ¹  are from ²  your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. ³  He ⁴  was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, ⁵  because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, ⁶  he speaks according to his own nature, ⁷  because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁸ 

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.