Therefore let us enact ¹  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ²  and that of those who respect ³  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

I will meet with you there, ¹  and ²  from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.

To this very day they observe their earlier practices. They do not worship ¹  the Lord; they do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments that the Lord gave ²  the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel.

He observed the daily requirements for sacrifices that Moses had specified for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual celebrations – the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Temporary Shelters. ¹ 

¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets ²  with ³  the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” ⁴ 

However, it was not until ¹  the first day of the eleventh month ²  of the fortieth year ³  that Moses addressed the Israelites just as ⁴  the Lord had instructed him to do.

They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the Lord’s temple, just as the king had ordered, in accordance with the word ¹  of the Lord.

And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their colleagues, who stood opposite them to offer praise and thanks, one contingent corresponding to the other, as specified by ¹  David the man of God.

But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted ¹  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed ²  by the leaping flames. ³ 

Love ¹  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ² 

No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down ¹  of my own free will. ²  I have the authority ³  to lay it down, and I have the authority ⁴  to take it back again. This commandment ⁵  I received from my Father.”

but now is disclosed, and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith –

So the sons of Israel did as he said. ¹  Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, ²  and he gave them provisions for the journey.

Moses recorded their departures ¹  according to their journeys, by the commandment ²  of the Lord; now these are their journeys according to their departures.

I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord ¹  and recklessly went up to the hill country.

When you capture the city, set it ¹  on fire. Do as the Lord says! See, I have given you orders.” ² 

So the Israelites assigned these cities and their grazing areas to the Levites from their own holdings, as the Lord had instructed.

They did not neglect any detail of the king’s orders pertaining to the priests, Levites, and treasuries. ¹ 

Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct. ¹ 

Then the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you violating the king’s commandment?”