Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.

In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see.

Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them.

Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city ¹  (that is, Jerusalem), ²  Gibeah, and Kiriath – a total of fourteen cities and their towns. ³  This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin ⁴  by its clans.

Through the window she looked; Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice: ‘Why is his chariot so slow to return? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses ¹  delayed?’

The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. ¹  The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. ² 

Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord, ¹  remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge ²  against the Philistines for my two eyes!”

No one came to the rescue because the city ¹  was far from Sidon ²  and they had no dealings with anyone. ³  The city ⁴  was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites ⁵  rebuilt the city and occupied it.

He said to her, “Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home. ¹ 

So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, ¹  my dear! ²  Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not ³  go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside ⁴  my female workers. ⁵ 

Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath ¹  saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.”

Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to one of your colleagues who is better than you!

Please forgive the sin of your servant, for the Lord will certainly establish the house of my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord. May no evil be found in you all your days!

In those days the Philistines gathered their troops ¹  for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, “You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle.” ² 

David replied to Achish, “That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!” Achish said to David, “Then I will make you my bodyguard ¹  from now on.” ² 

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. ¹  In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums ²  and magicians ³  from the land.

So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, ¹  so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”

But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed ¹  the mediums and magicians ²  from the land! Why are you trapping me ³  so you can put me to death?”

The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god ¹  coming up from the ground!”

The Lord has done exactly as I prophesied! ¹  The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David!