Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it?

The Lord ¹  found him ²  in a desolate land, in an empty wasteland where animals howl. ³  He continually guarded him ⁴  and taught him; ⁵  he continually protected him ⁶  like the pupil ⁷  of his eye.

He then asked, “Which invasion route are we going to take?” ¹  Jehoram ²  answered, “By the road through the Desert of Edom.”

Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod (or the language of one of the other peoples mentioned ¹ ) and were unable to speak the language of Judah.

to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ¹  a desert where there are no human beings, ² 

Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: ¹  Like strong winds blowing in the south, ²  one invades from the desert, from a land that is feared.

This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. ¹  Then the desert will become an orchard and the orchard will be considered a forest. ² 

Let the desert and its cities shout out, the towns where the nomads of Kedar live! Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully; let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.

But Babylonia will be put to great shame. The land where you were born ¹  will be disgraced. Indeed, ²  Babylonia will become the least important of all nations. It will become a dry and barren desert.

I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

and rejected Esau. ¹  I turned Esau’s ²  mountains into a deserted wasteland ³  and gave his territory ⁴  to the wild jackals.”

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,

¹ Then Moses led Israel to journey ²  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ³  into the desert, and found no water.

¹ Then the entire community of Israel ²  entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, ³  and the people stayed in Kadesh. ⁴  Miriam died and was buried there. ⁵ 

For ¹  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ²  rebelled against my command ³  to show me as holy ⁴  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

So we turned away from our relatives ¹  the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, ²  from Elat ³  and Ezion Geber, ⁴  and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands.

Who is there from the entire human race ¹  who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived?

The land allotted to the tribe of Judah by its clans reached to the border of Edom, to the Wilderness of Zin in the Negev far to the south. ¹ 

We swear we have done this because we were worried that ¹  in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel? ² 

Gideon ¹  said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, ²  then give me ³  a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me.