¹ Be careful what you do ²  when you go to the temple ³  of God; draw near to listen ⁴  rather than to offer a sacrifice ⁵  like fools, ⁶  for they do not realize that they are doing wrong.

So remember ¹  your Creator in the days of your youth – before ²  the difficult ³  days come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. ¹  You will not experience oppression; ²  indeed, you will not be afraid. You will not be terrified, ³  for nothing frightening ⁴  will come near you.

They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

צ (Tsade) Our enemies ¹  hunted us down at every step ²  so that we could not walk about in our streets. Our end drew near, our days were numbered, ³  for our end had come!

Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day ¹  is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains. ² 

Blow the trumpet ¹  in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the Lord is about to come. Indeed, ²  it is near! ³ 

When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring ¹  and heard his sister Rebekah say, ²  “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing ³  by the camels near the spring.

I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary.” ¹ 

Now a wind ¹  went out ²  from the Lord and brought quail ³  from the sea, and let them fall ⁴  near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet ⁵  high on the surface of the ground.

Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them?

If the owner ¹  does not live ²  near you or you do not know who the owner is, ³  then you must corral the animal ⁴  at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him.

the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. ¹  It piled up far upstream ²  at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). ³  The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. ⁴ 

When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah. ¹  But he did not realize ²  men were hiding behind the city. ³ 

The border then descended to the edge of the hill country near the Valley of Ben Hinnom located in the Valley of the Rephaites to the north. It descended through the Valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south and then down to En Rogel.

When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords ¹  throughout ²  the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went ³  to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord.

When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin’s border. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! ¹  He is asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen by lot. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.