as well as all the towns around these cities as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the land assigned to the tribe of Simeon by its clans. ¹ 

We swear we have done this because we were worried that ¹  in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel? ² 

He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. ¹  The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. ² 

The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!”

The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe ¹  of Benjamin, saying, “How could such a wicked thing take place? ² 

They said, “Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?” An entire ¹  tribe has disappeared from Israel today!”

So the two of them ¹  journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. ² When they entered ³  Bethlehem, ⁴  the whole village was excited about their arrival. ⁵  The women of the village said, ⁶  “Can this be Naomi?” ⁷ 

May your family ¹  become like the family of Perez ²  – whom Tamar bore to Judah – through the descendants ³  the Lord gives you by this young woman.”

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!

But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!”

Then Saul said, “All you leaders of the army come here. Find out ¹  how this sin occurred today.

Now may the Lord show you true kindness! ¹  I also will reward you, ²  because you have done this deed.

Now, O sovereign Lord, you are the true God! ¹  May your words prove to be true! ²  You have made this good promise to your servant! ³ 

So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger ¹  said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ¹ 

But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this foolish thing!

But she said to him, “No I won’t, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!” ¹  But he refused to listen to her.

He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight ¹  and lock the door behind her!”

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.

Abishai son of Zeruiah replied, “For this should not Shimei be put to death? After all, he cursed the Lord’s anointed!”