This bread of ours was warm when we packed it in our homes the day we started out to meet you, ¹  but now it is dry and hard. ² 

It then crossed to Azmon, extended to the Stream of Egypt, ¹  and ended at the sea. This was their ²  southern border.

You have not abandoned your fellow Israelites ¹  this entire time, ²  right up to this very day. You have completed the task given you by the Lord your God. ³ 

Then the Lord himself ¹  turned to him and said, “You have the strength. ²  Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! ³  Have I not sent you?”

He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’” ¹ 

Among this army ¹  were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers. ²  Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target. ³ 

The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior. ¹ 

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 

He said, “Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot.

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, ¹  “Here is the man that I told you about! He will rule over my people.”

As Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, he said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

But some wicked men ¹  said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. ² 

So Jesse had him brought in. ¹  Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!”

Do I have a shortage of fools, that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?”

When Saul recognized David’s voice, he said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David replied, “Yes, it’s my voice, my lord the king.”

He went on to say, “Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What wrong have I done? ¹ 

Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced, ¹  ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his tens of thousands’?”

David took all the flocks and herds and drove them in front of the rest of the animals. People were saying, “This is David’s plunder!”

So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner ¹  has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way! ² 

But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!’”