Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul ¹  replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost, ²  we went to Samuel.”

The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, ¹  and cisterns.

When the Israelites had mustered and had received their supplies, they marched out to face them in battle. When the Israelites deployed opposite them, they were like two small flocks ¹  of goats, but the Syrians filled the land.

Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail. ¹  Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.

We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control ¹  of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”

Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem ¹  and stopped them with threat of armed force. ² 

Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ¹  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. ¹  He was angry ²  with Job for justifying ³  himself rather than God. ⁴ 

So the Lord ¹  restored what Job had lost ²  after he prayed for his friends, ³  and the Lord doubled ⁴  all that had belonged to Job.

For innumerable dangers ¹  surround me. My sins overtake me so I am unable to see; they outnumber the hairs of my head so my strength fails me. ² 

All the relatives ¹  of a poor person hate him; ²  how much more do his friends avoid him – he pursues them ³  with words, but they do not respond. ⁴ 

There is no end to all the people ¹  nor to the past generations, ²  yet future generations ³  will not rejoice in him. This also is profitless and like ⁴  chasing the wind.

If you see the extortion ¹  of the poor, or the perversion ²  of justice and fairness in the government, ³  do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, ⁴  and there are higher ones over them! ⁵ 

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears. ¹ 

Like a frightened gazelle ¹  or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, ²  each will run to his homeland.

Look at the land of the Chaldeans, these people who have lost their identity! ¹  The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, ²  demolished ³  its fortresses, and turned it into a heap of ruins. ⁴ 

All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. ¹ 

So I said, ¹  “Oh, my dear people, ²  put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now ³  that destructive army ⁴  will come against us.”

Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ¹  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ²  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ³ 

Just as surely as I have done this, so surely will I never reject the descendants of Jacob. Nor will I ever refuse to choose one of my servant David’s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, ¹  I will restore them ²  and show mercy to them.”