So the people contended ¹  with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” ²  Moses said to them, “Why do you contend ³  with me? Why do you test ⁴  the Lord?”

Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? ¹  I wish that ²  all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me ¹  the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” ² 

Gaal saw the men ¹  and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills – it just looks like men.” ² 

The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ¹  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ²  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ³  of all who live in Gilead.” ⁴ 

The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, ¹  I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) ² 

He said, “Who are you?” ¹  She replied, “I am Ruth, your servant. ²  Marry your servant, ³  for you are a guardian of the family interests.” ⁴ 

So Saul said to his servant, “All right, ¹  we can go. But what can we bring the man, since the food in our bags is used up? We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

Then Samuel said, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? ¹  Certainly, ²  obedience ³  is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than ⁴  the fat of rams.

Saul ¹  again replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Go back with me so I may worship the Lord your God.”

Samuel replied, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you ¹  and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

But David replied to the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied!

¹ Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.”

So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately ¹  to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”

Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house!

David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” Abishai replied, “I will go down with you.”

When Achish would ask, “Where ¹  did you raid today?” David would say, “The Negev of Judah” or “The Negev of Jeharmeel” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”

So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, ¹  so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”

David inquired, “How were things going? ¹  Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them ²  fell dead. ³  Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!”

The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, ¹  that I may extend God’s kindness to him?” Ziba said to the king, “One of Jonathan’s sons is left; both of his feet are crippled.”