Samuel replied, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you ¹  and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go ¹  to his city Bethlehem, ²  for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’

When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah who were his friends, saying, “Here’s a gift ¹  for you from the looting of the Lord’s enemies!”

They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place ¹  in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord.

Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” ¹  When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. ² 

For I made this vow ¹  when I was living in Geshur in Aram: ‘If the Lord really does allow me to return to Jerusalem, ²  I will serve the Lord.’”

(Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.)

Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet ¹  – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. ²  Elisha ³  said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.”

So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift ¹  and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, ²  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

He followed in the footsteps of ¹  the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, ²  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ³  whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.

Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were ¹  in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute ²  to the king of Assyria.

At that time Merodach-Baladan ¹  son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill.

“Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them.”’” ¹ 

From the sons of Jeduthun: ¹  Gedaliah, Zeri, ²  Jeshaiah, ³  Hashabiah, and Mattithiah – six in all, ⁴  under supervision of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied as he played a harp, giving thanks and praise to the Lord.

for gold and silver items, and for all the work of the craftsmen. Who else wants to contribute to the Lord today?”

“But who am I and who are my people, that we should be in a position to contribute this much? ¹  Indeed, everything comes from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours. ² 

King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple.

But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. ¹  He disobeyed ²  the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar.

They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. ¹ 

He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of ¹  Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.