Moses then called to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.”

Anyone who touches anything that was under him ¹  will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items ²  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward ¹  to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God.

At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites ¹  equipped for battle.

The one caught with the riches ¹  must be burned up ²  along with all who belong to him, because he violated the Lord’s covenant and did such a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”

¹  All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah.

the Israelites counterattacked. ¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ²  they struck down ³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

So bathe yourself, ¹  rub on some perfumed oil, ²  and get dressed up. ³  Then go down ⁴  to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know you’re there until he finishes his meal. ⁵ 

The shaft ¹  of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels. ²  His shield bearer was walking before him.

Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry. ¹  They chased the Philistines to the valley ²  and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. ¹  In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums ²  and magicians ³  from the land.

So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness ¹  to your lord Saul by burying him.

Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. ¹ 

They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything ¹  that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers ²  for the land.

The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family ¹  the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds. ² 

All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family ¹  who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good.

He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.”

He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. ¹  He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard. ² 

When the time comes for you to die, ¹  I will raise up your descendant, ²  one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom.

He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures ¹  of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. ²