You have joy, Israel! Who is like you? You are a people delivered by the Lord, your protective shield and your exalted sword. May your enemies cringe before you; may you trample on their backs.

That day Moses made this solemn promise: ¹  ‘Surely the land on which you walked ²  will belong to you and your descendants permanently, ³  for you remained loyal to the Lord your God.’

She summoned ¹  Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it not true that the Lord God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun!

Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent, ¹  and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead ²  with the tent peg in his temple.

I have not done you wrong, ¹  but you are doing wrong ²  by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”

She said to him, “My father, since ¹  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ²  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ³  your enemies, the Ammonites.”

The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate ¹  him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

He said to his mother, “You know ¹  the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen ²  from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole ³  it, but now I am giving it back to you.” ⁴  His mother said, “May the Lord reward ⁵  you, my son!”

When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate ¹  this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.” ² 

Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ¹  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ² 

As they approached ¹  Micah’s house, they recognized the accent ²  of the young Levite. So they stopped ³  there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ⁴ 

The guardian said, “Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance ¹  in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.” ² 

Finally her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and not eat? Why are you so sad? ¹  Am I not better to you than ten ²  sons?”

If the individual said to him, “First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish,” he would say, “No! ¹  Hand it over right now! If you don’t, I will take it forcibly!”

Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord raise up for you descendants ¹  from this woman to replace the one that she ²  dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would go to their ³  home.

So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

Eli ¹  said, “What message did he speak to you? Don’t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely ²  if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!”

Just as they have done ¹  from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you.

The donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, ¹  so Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go ²  look for the donkeys.” ³ 

Samuel replied to Saul, “I am the seer! Go up in front of me to the high place! Today you will eat with me and in the morning I will send you away. I will tell you everything that you are thinking. ¹