Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother.

Now ¹  a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage ²  for twelve years ³  but could not be healed by anyone.

Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.

Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved ¹  wife as firstborn and give him the double portion ²  of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power ³  – to him should go the right of the firstborn.

“Now if the king is so inclined, ¹  let a search be conducted in the royal archives ²  there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”

If the king is so inclined, ¹  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ²  that Vashti ³  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ⁴  who is more deserving than she. ⁵ 

To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays ¹  to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions.

But look, ¹  the word of the Lord came to him: “This man ²  will not be your heir, ³  but instead ⁴  a son ⁵  who comes from your own body will be ⁶  your heir.” ⁷ 

then there will be an oath to the Lord ¹  between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.

The priest ¹  is to present it before the Lord and make atonement ²  on her behalf, and she will be clean ³  from her flow of blood. ⁴  This is the law of the one who bears a child, for the male or the female child.

Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water ¹  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

and the priest is to make one of them a sin offering ¹  and the other a burnt offering. ²  So the priest ³  is to make atonement for him before the Lord for ⁴  his discharge.

Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation, any furniture she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation,

and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. ¹  So the priest ²  is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity.

the one who is sick in her menstruation, the one with a discharge, whether male or female, ¹  and a man ²  who has sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.’”

“Look, ¹  I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of ²  every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

“Command the Israelites to expel ¹  from the camp every leper, ²  everyone who has a discharge, ³  and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse. ⁴ 

For they are entirely given ¹  to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of ²  all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess. ¹ 

Your children ¹  will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.