I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. ¹  But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant ²  asks.

Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, ¹  for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect ²  in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

Then Abraham ¹  said, “May the Lord not be angry ²  so that I may speak! ³  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

Abraham ¹  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

Finally Abraham ¹  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ¹  Please do not get angry with your servant, ²  for you are just like Pharaoh. ³ 

“So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth ¹  and with his mouth, ²  and I will teach you both ³  what you must do. ⁴ 

I will meet with you there, ¹  and ²  from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.

You ¹  are to speak to all who are specially skilled, ²  whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, ³  so that they may make ⁴  Aaron’s garments to set him apart ⁵  to minister as my priest.

“This will be a regular ¹  burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet ²  with you to speak to you there.

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, ¹  the way a person speaks ²  to a friend. Then Moses ³  would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent. ⁴ 

But when Moses went in ¹  before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. ²  Then he would come out and tell the Israelites what he had been commanded. ³ 

When the Israelites would see ¹  the face of Moses, that ²  the skin of Moses’ face shone, Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord. ³ 

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When ¹  someone ²  among you presents an offering ³  to the Lord, ⁴  you ⁵  must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock. ⁶ 

“Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman ¹  takes a special vow, ²  to take a vow ³  as a Nazirite, ⁴  to separate ⁵  himself to the Lord,

The Lord ¹  said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, ²  I the Lord ³  will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make ¹  tassels ²  for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread ³  on the tassel of the corners.

“Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, ¹  one from every tribal leader, ²  twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff.

He replied to them, “Stay ¹  here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever word the Lord may speak to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ¹  the commandment ²  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ³  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?