When Ben Hadad received this reply, ¹  he and the other kings were drinking in their quarters. ²  He ordered his servants, “Get ready to attack!” So they got ready to attack the city.

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.

When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them. ¹  They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel.

These were the areas where Aaron’s descendants lived: ¹  The following belonged to the Kohathite clan, for they received the first allotment: ² 

The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten cities in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹ 

Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh, the rest of Kohath’s descendants received Aner and its pasturelands and Bileam and its pasturelands. ¹ 

¹  David said, “Whoever attacks ²  the Jebusites first will become commanding general!” ³  So Joab son of Zeruiah attacked ⁴  first and became commander. ⁵ 

It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons. ¹ 

besides what he collected from the merchants ¹  and traders. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

Messengers ¹  arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea, ²  from the direction of Edom. ³  Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi).”

But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem. ¹ 

When they took out the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the Lord had given to Moses.

But Josiah did not turn back from him; ¹  he disguised himself for battle. He did not take seriously ²  the words of Necho which he had received from God; he went to fight him in the Plain of Megiddo. ³ 

But God was watching over ¹  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped ²  until a report could be dispatched ³  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

During all this time I was not in Jerusalem, ¹  for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time ²  I had requested leave of the king,

When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior, ¹  the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.

The king asked, “What great honor ¹  was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”

Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ²  He worked enthusiastically ³  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁴  all his descendants. ⁵ 

I have received a distressing message: ¹  “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹  Let them take their stand – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions – let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ²