“No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell ¹  you both the field and the cave that is in it. ²  In the presence of my people ³  I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

So Abraham secured ¹  Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border,

Then they erected over him a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day ¹ ) and the Lord’s anger subsided. So that place is called the Valley of Disaster to this very day.

At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take them down from the trees. ¹  They threw them into the cave where they had hidden and piled large stones over the mouth of the cave. (They remain to this very day.) ² 

Now it was reported to Saul, “Look, the army is sinning against the Lord by eating even the blood.” He said, “All of you have broken the covenant! ¹  Roll a large stone over here to me.”

Afterward David got up and went out of the cave. He called out after Saul, “My lord, O king!” When Saul looked behind him, David kneeled down and bowed with his face to the ground.

Certainly my master is aware of what I did ¹  when Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets. I hid one hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves in two groups of fifty and I brought them food and water.

so ¹  it may become a reality ²  and you may gain lasting fame, ³  as people say, ⁴  ‘The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.’ ⁵  David’s dynasty ⁶  will be established before you,

At that time ¹  they will growl over their prey, ²  it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ³  One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster, clouds will turn the light into darkness. ⁴ 

When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass ¹  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm ²  you.

“Do so because my people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water, ¹  and they have dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”

“Take some large stones ¹  and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement ²  at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence ³  here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching. ⁴ 

ג (Gimel) Judah ¹  has departed into exile under ²  affliction and harsh oppression. ³  She ⁴  lives among the nations; she has found no resting place. All who pursued her overtook her in ⁵  narrow straits. ⁶ 

He builds the upper rooms of his palace ¹  in heaven and sets its foundation supports ²  on the earth. ³  He summons the water of the sea and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name.

They will lick the dust like a snake, like serpents crawling on the ground. ¹  They will come trembling from their strongholds to the Lord our God; ²  they will be terrified ³  of you. ⁴ 

In addition, ¹  this brother ²  has also been chosen by the churches as our traveling companion as we administer this generous gift ³  to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. ⁴ 

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening. ¹  At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree. ²  They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day). ³ 

Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you – this very day – into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity ¹  on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’ ² 

They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things – wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full ¹  and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.