“‘Thus you ¹  are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they ²  do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst.

“‘Any man from the Israelites ¹  or from the foreigners who reside ²  in their ³  midst who hunts a wild animal ⁴  or a bird that may be eaten ⁵  must pour out its blood and cover it with soil,

“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. And the Levites will be mine. I am the Lord.

For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed ¹  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.

¹ When the Canaanite king of Arad ²  who lived in the Negev ³  heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.

“Take a census of the whole community of Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their clans, ¹  everyone who can serve in the army of Israel.” ² 

Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.”

I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ¹  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ²  and judge fairly, ³  whether between one citizen and another ⁴  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ⁵ 

At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites ¹  equipped for battle.

If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ¹  and regards him as mere property ²  and sells him, that kidnapper ³  must die. In this way you will purge ⁴  evil from among you.

You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ¹  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ² 

“Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! ¹  Cross the Jordan River! ²  Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. ³ 

When the men of Ai turned around, they saw ¹  the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. ²  In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated. The Israelites retreated before ¹  Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah.

Samuel revealed the word of the Lord ¹  to all Israel.Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. ²  They camped at Ebenezer, ³  and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people.

Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. ¹ 

Solomon offered as peace offerings ¹  to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple.

This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of ¹  Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped ²  other gods;

The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. ¹  They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. ²