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.

Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ²  is giving you.

Walk just as he ¹  has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long ²  in the land you are going to possess.

It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out.

She asked, ¹  ‘May I follow the harvesters and gather ²  grain among the bundles?’ ³  Since she arrived she has been working hard ⁴  from this morning until now ⁵  – except for ⁶  sitting ⁷  in the resting hut ⁸  a short time.” ⁹ 

Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal ¹  to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ²  Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?”

Then follow him up as he comes and sits on my throne. He will be king in my place; I have decreed ¹  that he will be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

“I raised you up ¹  from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. Yet you followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps ²  and encouraged my people Israel to sin; their sins have made me angry. ³ 

So he sent a second horseman out to them ¹  and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” ²  Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.”

But Aaron and his descendants offered sacrifices on the altar for burnt offerings and on the altar for incense as they had been assigned to do in the most holy sanctuary. ¹  They made atonement for Israel, just as God’s servant Moses had ordered. ² 

Jehoram ¹  received this letter from Elijah the prophet: “This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: ‘You ²  have not followed in the footsteps ³  of your father Jehoshaphat and of ⁴  King Asa of Judah,

My God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders, ¹  the officials, and the ordinary people so they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records ²  of those who had formerly returned. Here is what I found written in that record: ³ 

Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ¹  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ²  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

Who handed Jacob over to the robber? Who handed Israel over to the looters? ¹  Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned? They refused to follow his commands; they disobeyed his law. ² 

No foreigner who becomes a follower of ¹  the Lord should say, ‘The Lord will certainly ²  exclude me from his people.’ The eunuch should not say, ‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”

As for foreigners who become followers of ¹  the Lord and serve him, who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants – all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, and who are faithful to ²  my covenant –

Your priests ¹  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ²  Those responsible for teaching my law ³  did not really know me. ⁴  Your rulers rebelled against me. Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁵  They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁶ 

The Lord said to his people: ¹  “You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ²  Ask where the old, reliable paths ³  are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ⁴  and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not follow it!”

Then tell them that the Lord says, ¹  ‘It is because your ancestors ²  rejected me and paid allegiance to ³  other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law. ⁴