Men of understanding say to me – any wise man listening to me says –

If you stop listening to ¹  instruction, my child, you will stray ²  from the words of knowledge.

If I summoned him, and he answered me, ¹  I would not believe ²  that he would be listening to my voice –

Then the Lord came and stood nearby, calling as he had previously done, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening!”

The Lover to His Beloved: O you who stay in the gardens, my companions are listening attentively ¹  for your voice; let me be the one to ²  hear it! ³ 

One of them ¹  said, “I will surely return ²  to you when the season comes round again, ³  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ⁴  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ⁵ 

Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. ¹  When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, ² 

Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, ¹  listening to the shepherds playing their pipes ²  for their flocks? ³  As for the clans of Reuben – there was intense searching of heart.

So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

The king gave this order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake deal gently with the young man Absalom.” Now the entire army was listening when the king gave all the leaders this order concerning Absalom.

When he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He replied, “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” He said, “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

Do not listen to them, ¹  because their prophecies are lies. ²  Listening to them will only cause you ³  to be taken far away from your native land. I will drive you out of your country and you will die in exile. ⁴ 

You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹  Let them take their stand – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions – let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ² 

“The Lord who rules over all also says, ‘Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, ¹  so that the temple might be built.