But as for you, ¹  turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea.” ² 

Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert.

When David heard in the desert that Nabal was shearing his sheep,

Look, I will escape to a distant place; I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)

The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture, ¹  and the hills are clothed with joy. ² 

For victory does not come from the east or west, or from the wilderness. ¹ 

They insulted God, saying, ¹  “Is God really able to give us food ²  in the wilderness?

He says, ¹  “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, ²  like they were that day at Massah ³  in the wilderness, ⁴ 

I am like an owl ¹  in the wilderness; I am like a screech owl ²  among the ruins. ³ 

He shouted at ¹  the Red Sea and it dried up; he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.

They wandered through the wilderness on a desert road; they found no city in which to live.

As for his people, ¹  he turned ²  a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into springs of water.

It is better to live ¹  in a desert land ²  than with a quarrelsome and easily-provoked ³  woman.

Let the desert and dry region be happy; ¹  let the wilderness ²  rejoice and bloom like a lily!

and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert. ¹ 

The Lord’s angel ¹  found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. ² 

God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ¹  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ² 

We must go ¹  on a three-day journey ²  into the desert and sacrifice ³  to the Lord our God, just as he is telling us.” ⁴ 

Pharaoh will think ¹  regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused ²  in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ ³