Messengers ¹  delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah. This royal edict read: ²  “O Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return ³  to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria. ⁴ 

I will say, ¹  ‘My dear children of Israel, ²  keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. ³  Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours.

One of them ¹  said, “I will surely return ²  to you when the season comes round again, ³  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ⁴  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ⁵ 

So he ¹  said to his servants, “You two stay ²  here with the donkey while ³  the boy and I go up there. We will worship ⁴  and then return to you.” ⁵ 

After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. ¹  When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” ² 

But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lord ¹  has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return ²  to my master.”

I am the God of Bethel, ¹  where you anointed ²  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ³  Now leave this land immediately ⁴  and return to your native land.’”

He took ¹  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ² 

Then Jacob prayed, ¹  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ²  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ³ 

Then Joseph gave orders to fill ¹  their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. ² 

“So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ¹ 

¹ When Pharaoh released ²  the people, God did not lead them ³  by the way to the land ⁴  of the Philistines, ⁵  although ⁶  that was nearby, for God said, ⁷  “Lest ⁸  the people change their minds ⁹  and return to Egypt when they experience war.”

He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are ¹  Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute ²  can approach ³  them.”

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, ¹  the way a person speaks ²  to a friend. Then Moses ³  would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent. ⁴ 

he is to calculate the value of the years it was sold, ¹  refund the balance ²  to the man to whom he had sold it, and return to his property.

Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be free of your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. This land will then be your possession in the Lord’s sight.

because the slayer ¹  should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions.

And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ¹ 

She told them, “Head ¹  to the hill country, so the ones chasing you don’t find you. ²  Hide from them there for three days, long enough for those chasing you ³  to return. Then you can be on your way.”