So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors ¹  against Jabesh Gilead. ²  They commanded them, “Go and kill with your swords ³  the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children.

When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, ¹  my master?” ² 

Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will ¹  go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means ²  be able to save them when disaster strikes them.

He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war. ¹ 

While I listened, he said to the others, ¹  “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare ²  anyone!

Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s other hand, and Joab ¹  stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa’s ²  intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal. ³  Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. ¹  He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors ²  and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ³  because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles. ⁴ 

The prophet ¹  got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! ²  But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”

“And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times! It is a sword for slaughter, a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.

And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ¹  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ²  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ³ 

Take a branch of hyssop, ¹  dip it in the blood that is in the basin, ²  and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out ³  the door of his house until morning.

or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.

Bless, O Lord, his goods, and be pleased with his efforts; undercut the legs ¹  of any who attack him, and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.

So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare ¹  them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it.

Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day eighty-five ¹  men who wore the linen ephod.

Indeed, O Lord, ¹  you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. For diviners from the east are everywhere; ²  they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. ³  Plenty of foreigners are around. ⁴ 

So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

The Lord will divide ¹  the gulf ²  of the Egyptian Sea; ³  he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ⁴  and send a strong wind, ⁵  he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ⁶  and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

While they were striking them down, I was left alone, and I threw myself face down and cried out, “Ah, sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?”