But Queen Vashti refused ¹  to come at the king’s bidding ²  conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed ³  him.

In my time of trouble I sought ¹  the Lord. I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ²  I ³  refused to be comforted.

Is this the one who made the world like a desert, who ruined its ¹  cities, and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ² 

Your ancestors, ¹  however, did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They stubbornly refused ²  to pay attention or to respond to any discipline.’

All his sons and daughters stood by ¹  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ²  So Joseph’s ³  father wept for him.

But he refused, saying ¹  to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought ²  to his household with me here, ³  and everything that he owns he has put into my care. ⁴ 

and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve ¹  me,’ but since you have refused to let him go, ²  I will surely kill ³  your son, your firstborn!”’”

But the magicians of Egypt did the same ¹  by their secret arts, and so ²  Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ³  and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron ⁴  – just as the Lord had predicted.

So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land, ¹  for the Lord has refused to permit me to go ²  with you.”

The men refused to listen to him, so the Levite ¹  grabbed his concubine and made her go outside. ²  They raped ³  her and abused her all night long until morning. They let her go at dawn.

Now, hand over the good-for-nothings ¹  in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.” ²  But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged ¹  him to eat, so he gave in. ²  He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed.

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.

and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ²  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ³ 

The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events ¹  so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made ²  through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she ¹  said to Ahab, “Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he’s dead.”

The king refused to listen to the people, because God was instigating this turn of events ¹  so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made ²  through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him vow allegiance ¹  in the name of God. He was stubborn and obstinate, and refused to return ²  to the Lord God of Israel.

In the past he said to them, ¹  “This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found.” ²  But they refused to listen.

Who handed Jacob over to the robber? Who handed Israel over to the looters? ¹  Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned? They refused to follow his commands; they disobeyed his law. ²