“A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects ¹  his master. If I am your ²  father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’

Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, son of Zerah, along with the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, ox, donkey, sheep, tent, and all that belonged to him and brought them up to the Valley of Disaster. ¹ 

So now, look, the Lord has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the Lord spoke these words to Moses, during which Israel traveled through the wilderness. Now look, I am today eighty-five years old.

Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites, ¹  “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not disobeyed the Lord in this. ²  Now ³  you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s judgment.” ⁴ 

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, “Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against ¹  Saul and his descendants!”

Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about ¹  from the day that Amnon ²  humiliated his sister Tamar.

The man replied to Joab, “Even if ¹  I were receiving ²  a thousand pieces of silver, ³  I would not strike ⁴  the king’s son! In our very presence ⁵  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ⁶ 

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I ¹  taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I ²  continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

That’s not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri. He has rebelled ¹  against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city.” The woman said to Joab, “This very minute ²  his head will be thrown over the wall to you!”

Solomon replied, “You demonstrated ¹  great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served ²  you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. ³  You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. ⁴ 

Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. ¹  They conquered ²  Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all the territory of Naphtali, including the region of Kinnereth. ³ 

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord’s will. ¹  But I despise ²  him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. ³  Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things.”

Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. ¹  The king ²  sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, ³  Elisha ⁴  said to the leaders, ⁵  “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?” ⁶  Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.” ⁷ 

When he left there, he met ¹  Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who had been looking for him. ²  Jehu greeted him and asked, ³  “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?” ⁴  Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.” ⁵  So he offered his hand and Jehu ⁶  pulled him up into the chariot.

whose mother is a Danite and whose father is a Tyrian. ¹  He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stones, and wood, as well as purple, violet, white, and crimson fabrics. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and understands any design given to him. He will work with your skilled craftsmen and the skilled craftsmen of my lord David your father.

King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem; ¹  he ²  was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. ³  Rehoboam’s ⁴  mother was an Ammonite named Naamah.

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord’s will. ¹  But I despise ²  him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but always ³  disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. ⁴  Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things!”

So Jehoshabeath, ¹  the daughter of King Jehoram, ²  took Ahaziah’s son Joash and sneaked him away ³  from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him.

He told the Levites, who instructed all Israel about things consecrated to the Lord, “Place the holy ark in the temple which King Solomon son of David of Israel built. Don’t carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel!

She said, “If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, ¹  which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.