They again challenged God, ¹  and offended ²  the Holy One of Israel. ³ 

When the messengers returned to the king, ¹  he asked them, “Why have you returned?”

They return in the evening; they growl ¹  like a dog and prowl around outside ²  the city.

When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him.

After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith ¹  their god.

So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. ¹  They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed.

¹ These are the people ²  of the province who were going up, ³  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ⁴  and Judah, each to his own city.

These are the people ¹  of the province who returned ²  from the captivity of the exiles, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile. ³  They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own city.

But later ¹  they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again. ² 

The Benjaminites did as instructed. ¹  They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives. ²  They went home ³  to their own territory, ⁴  rebuilt their cities, and settled down. ⁵ 

Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked. ¹  So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin. ²  They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys. ³  They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho, ⁴  the city of the date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

“Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to ¹  their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again.

But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ¹  Then they paid attention ²  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

When all this was over, the Israelites ¹  who were in the cities of Judah went out and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and demolished ²  all the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. ³  Then all the Israelites returned to their own homes in their cities. ⁴