You must stone him to death ¹  because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

So the king of Jericho sent this order to Rahab: ¹  “Turn over ²  the men who came to you ³  – the ones who came to your house ⁴  – for they have come to spy on the whole land!”

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 

They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. ¹ 

When Ehud had left, Eglon’s ¹  servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself ²  in the well-ventilated inner room.” ³ 

Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, ¹  because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines ²  (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).

They stopped there and decided to spend the night ¹  in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night. ² 

The Levite, ¹  the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, “I and my concubine stopped in ²  Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin ³  to spend the night.

The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. ¹  They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.

Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed ¹  the commandment that the Lord your God gave ²  you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!

If he should then say, ‘That’s fine,’ ¹  then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me. ² 

Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning ¹  to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

He came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself. ¹  Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave.

Messengers ¹  told David what had happened, ²  so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho ³  until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”

Yes! ¹  The king may ²  listen and deliver his female servant ³  from the hand of the man who seeks to remove ⁴  both me and my son from the inheritance God has given us!’ ⁵ 

For I, your servant, ¹  know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

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 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.

But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of ¹  his servant David to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty. ² 

regularly offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar for burnt sacrifice, morning and evening, according to what is prescribed in the law of the Lord which he charged Israel to observe. ¹