Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard ¹  and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life. ² 

So the five men journeyed on ¹  and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there ²  were living securely, like the Sidonians do, ³  undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. ⁴  They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁵ 

So they assembled ¹  all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us ²  and our ³  people!” The terror ⁴  of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there. ⁵ 

The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel, ¹  where they positioned the ark of the Lord until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.

“At this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. You must consecrate ¹  him as a leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked with favor on my people. Their cry has reached me!”

The leaders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time? ¹  I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!” ² 

Let our leaders take steps ¹  on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.”

Who stirs up this one from the east? ¹  Who ²  officially commissions him for service? ³  He hands nations over to him, ⁴  and enables him to subdue ⁵  kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, like windblown straw with his bow. ⁶ 

He went down to the chamber of the royal secretary in the king’s palace and found all the court officials in session there. Elishama ¹  the royal secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, ²  Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials were seated there.

“A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan ¹  scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. ²  So too I will chase the Edomites off their land. ³  Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. ⁴  For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account. ⁵  There is no ⁶  ruler ⁷  who can stand up against me.

“A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Babylonians off of their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me. There is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler that can stand up against me.

“Son of man, say to the prince ¹  of Tyre, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘Your heart is proud ²  and you said, “I am a god; ³  I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” – yet you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike. ⁴ 

This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels; this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones, so that ¹  those who are alive may understand that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ²  and he bestows them on whomever he wishes. He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays ¹  to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions.

Now after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ¹  As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy ²  them. But his end will come speedily ³  like a flood. ⁴  Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction.

Her ¹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ²  her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust ³  the Lord and say, “The Lord is among us. ⁴  Disaster will not overtake ⁵  us!”

When Abram was 99 years old, ¹  the Lord appeared to him and said, ²  “I am the sovereign God. ³  Walk ⁴  before me ⁵  and be blameless. ⁶ 

May the sovereign God ¹  bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! ²  Then you will become ³  a large nation. ⁴ 

When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, ¹  and sexually assaulted her. ² 

Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. ¹  Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! ²