Isn’t this what we told you ¹  in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, ²  because it is better for us to serve ³  the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’” ⁴ 

Moreover, ¹  you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind ²  these men? We will not come up.”

“Let us ¹  pass through your land; ²  we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.”

She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ¹  We are absolutely terrified of you, ²  and all who live in the land are cringing before ³  you. ⁴ 

But his master said to him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. ¹  We will travel on to Gibeah.”

the Israelites counterattacked. ¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ²  they struck down ³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. ¹  They said, “Too bad for ²  us! We’ve never seen anything like this!

Too bad for us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert!

But David’s men said to him, “We are afraid while we are still here in Judah! What will it be like if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”

I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city ¹  in Israel. Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”

The king of Israel said to his servants, “Surely you recognize that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, though we are hesitant to reclaim it from the king of Syria.” ¹ 

“But who am I and who are my people, that we should be in a position to contribute this much? ¹  Indeed, everything comes from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours. ² 

For we are resident foreigners and nomads in your presence, like all our ancestors; ¹  our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security. ² 

In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king, ¹  and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage, ²  we are sending the king this information ³ 

Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, ¹  and we are in great distress!

Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us and we belong to him; ¹  we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, ¹  so my eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.

Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ¹  who do their work in secret and boast, ²  “Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ³ 

Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’