the Israelites counterattacked. ¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ²  they struck down ³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

You ¹  should tell him that I am about to judge his house forever because of ²  the sin that he knew about. For his sons were cursing God, ³  and he did not rebuke them.

When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come on, let’s head back before my father quits worrying about the donkeys and becomes anxious about us!”

So this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it. ¹ 

Hanani, who was one of my relatives, ¹  along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, ²  and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. ³ 

You have also established prophets to announce ¹  in Jerusalem ²  on your behalf, ‘We have a king in Judah!’ Now the king is going to hear about these rumors. So come on! Let’s talk about this.” ³ 

Even when I am old and gray, ¹  O God, do not abandon me, until I tell the next generation about your strength, and those coming after me about your power. ² 

we will not hide from their ¹  descendants. We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, ²  about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

Your thinking is perverse! ¹  Should the potter be regarded as clay? ²  Should the thing made say ³  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully and not remember me or think about me? ¹  Because I have been silent for so long, ²  you are not afraid of me. ³ 

You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ¹  They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ²  They always talk about you, but they really care nothing about you. ³ 

Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land.

‘Think carefully about the past: ¹  from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ²  to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, ³  think about it. ⁴ 

All these strong ones ¹  are scattering; they have sought permission to go and walk about over the earth.” The Lord had said, “Go! Walk about over the earth!” So they are doing so.

Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, ¹  and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

Early in the morning ¹  Abimelech summoned ²  all his servants. When he told them about all these things, ³  they ⁴  were terrified.

Joseph ¹  had a dream, ²  and when he told his brothers about it, ³  they hated him even more. ⁴ 

This is just what I told ¹  Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Don’t worry ¹  about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours.’”

The Israelites journeyed ¹  from Rameses ²  to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men ³  on foot, plus their dependants. ⁴