Now look! This king walks before you. As for me, I am old and gray, though my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from the time of my youth till the present day.

The young man who was telling him this ¹  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

I ¹  grant your request, ²  and give ³  you a wise and discerning mind ⁴  superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. ⁵ 

I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, ¹  dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.” ² 

He was still talking to them when ¹  the messenger approached ²  and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! ³  Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?”

“So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy ¹  its good things – we are slaves!

Indeed, ¹  look at your enemies, O Lord! Indeed, ²  look at how your enemies perish! All the evildoers are scattered!

Indeed ¹  Israel ²  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies, the people ³  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁴  He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁵ 

Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ¹  his military power establishes his rule. ²  Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him. ³ 

He made me walk all around among them. ¹  I realized ²  there were a great many bones in the valley and they were very dry.

The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ¹  him making locusts just as the crops planted late ²  were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. ³ )

“As for me, ¹  this ²  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations.

Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, ¹  in the tent.”

Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” ¹ 

Isaac ¹  said, “Since ²  I am so old, I could die at any time. ³ 

In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied.

Then ¹  seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them.

The Lord said, “Here ¹  is a place by me; you will station yourself ²  on a rock.

It was reported to Saul saying, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

Just then, ¹  while she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived.