and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ¹  to you the price ²  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ³  bury my dead there.”

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ²  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ³ 

When the days of mourning ¹  had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, ²  “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, ³ 

The Lord spoke ¹  to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge ²  for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go up ¹  from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath ²  to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ ³ 

Then Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his remaining sons, “Take the grain offering which remains from the gifts of the Lord and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.

But Aaron spoke to Moses, “See here! ¹  Just today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord and such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten a sin offering today would the Lord have been pleased?” ² 

Then Moses spoke to the Israelites and they brought the one who cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. So the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Now when Moses went into ¹  the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, ²  he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid ³  that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. ⁴  Thus he spoke to him.

And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses ¹  and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, ²  they prophesied, ³  but did not do so again. ⁴ 

Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person ¹  to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him.

And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked ¹  men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because ²  of all their sins.” ³ 

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, ¹  according to their tribes ²  – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion ¹  and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.

So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement ¹  before the Lord in Mizpah.

Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. ¹  He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.

So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf ¹  to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial ²  for you.

Then Abner spoke privately ¹  with the Benjaminites. Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately ²  of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to. ³ 

They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” ¹ 

and followed ¹  the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ²  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” ³