The witnesses ¹  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ²  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out ¹  wickedness from among you, and all Israel ²  will hear about it and be afraid.

If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ¹  and regards him as mere property ²  and sells him, that kidnapper ³  must die. In this way you will purge ⁴  evil from among you.

The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses.

The Lord will single him out ¹  for judgment ²  from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.

But I will certainly ¹  hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they ²  will have done by turning to other gods.

Whenever they went out to fight, ¹  the Lord did them harm, ²  just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. ³  They suffered greatly. ⁴ 

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

God sent a spirit to stir up hostility ¹  between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal ²  to Abimelech.

God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell ¹  on them.

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, ¹  so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!”

The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe ¹  of Benjamin, saying, “How could such a wicked thing take place? ² 

Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah – the battle was fierce. ¹  But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. ² 

He said to them, “Why do you behave in this way? For I hear about these evil things from all these ¹  people.

Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon ¹  Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. ² 

If he should then say, ‘That’s fine,’ ¹  then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me. ² 

When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ¹  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!”

David said to Saul, “Why do you pay attention when men say, ‘David is seeking to do you harm’?