# verses

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So all the cities for the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.


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All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common lands.


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Thus Jehovah gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.


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And Jehovah gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; Jehovah delivered all their enemies into their hand.


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Not a word failed of any good thing which Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.


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and said to them: You have kept all that Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you.


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You have not left your brethren these many days, to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of Jehovah your God.


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And now Jehovah your God has given rest to your brethren, as He has promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Jehovah has given you on the other side of the Jordan.


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But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the Law which Moses the servant of Jehovah has charged you, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to cleave unto Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.


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Now to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,


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and spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoils of your enemies with your brethren.


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And the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the mouth of Jehovah by the hand of Moses.


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And when they came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan; an altar of great appearance.


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And the children of Israel heard it said, Behold, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar across from the land of Canaan, in the regions of the Jordan, at the border of the children of Israel.


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And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.


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Then the sons of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead,


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and with him ten leaders, each one a chief leader of a father's house of every tribe of Israel; and each one was the head of the house of his father among the thousands of Israel.


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And they came to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,


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Thus says the whole congregation of Jehovah: What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following Jehovah, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against Jehovah?


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Was the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed to this day, and there was a plague in the congregation of Jehovah,


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but that you must turn away this day from following Jehovah? And it shall be, if you rebel today against Jehovah, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.


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Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of Jehovah, where the tabernacle of Jehovah stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against Jehovah, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of Jehovah our God.


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Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And that man was not the only one to die in his iniquity.


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Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel:


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Jehovah, the Mighty God of gods, Jehovah, the Mighty God of gods, He knows, and let Israel itself know; if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against Jehovah, do not save us this day.


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If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following Jehovah, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let Jehovah Himself exact it.


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But we have done it in this manner out of concern, thinking, In time to come your sons may speak to our sons, saying, What have you to do with Jehovah the God of Israel?


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For Jehovah has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad. You have no portion in Jehovah. Thus your sons would make our sons cease to fear Jehovah.


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Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice,


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but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Jehovah before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your sons may not say to our sons in time to come, You have no portion in Jehovah.


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Therefore we thought that it shall be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Look at the pattern of the altar of Jehovah which our fathers have made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.


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Far be it from us that we should rebel against Jehovah, to turn from following Jehovah this day, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of Jehovah our God which is before His tabernacle.


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And when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh had spoken, it pleased them.


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And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh, This day we perceive that Jehovah is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Jehovah. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of Jehovah.


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And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the leaders, returned from the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them.


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And the thing was good in the eyes of the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the sons of Reuben and Gad were living.


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And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar, Witness, For it is a witness between us that Jehovah is God.


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Now it came to pass, many days after Jehovah had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua had grown old and advanced in age.


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And Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, their heads, their judges, and their officers, and said to them: I have become old and advanced in age.


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You have seen all that Jehovah your God has done to all these nations because of you, for Jehovah your God is He who was fighting for you.


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Behold, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward.


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And Jehovah your God will thrust them out before you and dispossess them before your faces. Thus you shall possess their land, as Jehovah your God has spoken to you.


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Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,


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and that you not go among these nations, these remaining among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,


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For Jehovah has driven out before you great and mighty nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand before you to this day.


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One man of you shall chase a thousand, for Jehovah your God is He who is fighting for you, as He has spoken to you.


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But if you turn back, to go away and cleave to the remnant of the nations; these that remain among you; and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,


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know and understand that Jehovah your God will no longer dispossess these nations before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which Jehovah your God has given to you.


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Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Jehovah your God has spoken concerning you. All of them have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.


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Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which Jehovah your God has spoken to you, so Jehovah will bring upon you every evil thing, to destroy you from this good land which Jehovah your God has given to you.


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When you have transgressed the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He has commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of Jehovah will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which He has given to you.


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And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officers; and they presented themselves before God.


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And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Your fathers (Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor) dwelt on the other side of the River in ancient times; and they served other gods.


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And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac.


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To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.


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And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I have done among them. Afterward I have brought you out.


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And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.


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And they cried out unto Jehovah; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I have done in Egypt. And you dwelt in the wilderness many days.


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And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them before you.


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Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.


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But I was not willing to heed Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. And I delivered you out of his hand.


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And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the lords of Jericho fought against you; also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand.


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I sent the hornet before you which drove them out before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword or with your bow.


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I have given you a land for which you have not labored, and cities which you have not built, and you dwell in them; you are eating of the vineyards and olive groves which you have not planted.


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Now therefore, fear Jehovah, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers have served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve Jehovah!


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And if it seems evil to you to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers have served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.


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for Jehovah our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who has done those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us in all the way that we have gone and among all the people through whom we have passed.


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And Jehovah drove out before us all the people, including the Amorites who were living in the land. We also will serve Jehovah, for He is our God.


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And Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve Jehovah, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous Mighty God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.


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If you forsake Jehovah and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do evil and consume you, after He has done you good.


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And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Jehovah for yourselves, to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses.


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Now therefore, he said, put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto Jehovah the God of Israel.


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So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and established for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.


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And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Jehovah.


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And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of Jehovah which He has spoken to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.


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And it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being one hundred and ten years old.


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And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.


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And Israel served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders whose days were prolonged after Joshua, who had known all the works of Jehovah which He had done for Israel.


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And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the sons of Joseph.


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And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.


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Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked Jehovah, saying, Who shall first go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?


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And Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory. And Simeon went with him.


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And Judah went up, and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they struck ten thousand men at Bezek.


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And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.


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And Adoni-Bezek said, Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me. Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.


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Now the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.


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And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the south, and in the lowlands.


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Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.


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From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)


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And Caleb said, Whoever strikes Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.


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And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.


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And it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, What do you wish?


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And she said to him, Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the south, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.


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Now the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, had gone up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.


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And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.


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Thus Jehovah was with Judah. And they dispossessed the mountains, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.


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And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he dispossessed from there the three sons of Anak.


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But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.


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And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will deal kindly with you.


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So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.


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And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.


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However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its daughter-villages, or Taanach and its daughter-villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its daughter-villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its daughter-villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its daughter-villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.


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And it came to pass, when Israel had become strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, but did not drive out to dispossess them.


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Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.


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Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put to tribute.


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Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.


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But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.


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Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put to tribute under them.


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And the Amorites squeezed the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;


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but the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the hand of the house of Joseph became heavy, they were put to tribute.


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And the Angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: I led you up from Egypt and brought you into the land of which I had sworn to your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you.


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And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall pull down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?


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Therefore I also have said, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.


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And it came about, when the Angel of Jehovah spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.


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And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.


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Thus the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who prolonged their days after Joshua, who had seen all the great works of Jehovah which He had done for Israel.


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And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.


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When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who had not known Jehovah nor the work which He had done for Israel.


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and they forsook Jehovah the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they went after other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked Jehovah to anger.


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And the anger of Jehovah burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.


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Wherever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had said, and as Jehovah had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.


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Nevertheless, Jehovah raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them.


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Yet they would not heed their judges, but they committed adultery with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked, to obey the commandments of Jehovah; they did not do so.


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And when Jehovah raised up judges for them, Jehovah was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for Jehovah was moved to pity before their groaning because of those oppressing and thrusting at them.


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And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, by going after other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They have not failed from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.


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And the anger of Jehovah burned against Israel; and He said, Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I have commanded their fathers, and has not obeyed My voice,


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so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of Jehovah, to walk in it as their fathers have kept it, or not.


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Therefore Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out quickly; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.


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Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan


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(only so that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it),


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namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.


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And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of Jehovah, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.


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Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.


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And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.


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And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. They forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and groves.


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Therefore the anger of Jehovah burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.


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And when the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.


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And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim.


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And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. So Jehovah strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the eyes of Jehovah.


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And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek, went and struck Israel, and took possession of the City of Palm Trees.


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And when the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man with his right hand impeded. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.


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Now Ehud made himself a sword (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and girded it under his clothes on his right thigh.


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And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who were carrying the tribute.


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But he himself turned back from the graven images that were at Gilgal, and said, I have a secret matter for you, O king. He said, Keep silence. And all who were standing by him went out from him.


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And Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool roof chamber). And Ehud said, I have a word from God for you. So he arose from his seat.


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And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.


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And the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and his excrement came out.


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Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.


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And when he had gone out, his servants came to look, and behold, the doors of the upper room were locked. And they thought, Surely he is covering his feet in the cool chamber.


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So they waited till they were ashamed, and behold he was not opening the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And behold, their master was fallen dead on the floor.


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And Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the graven images and slipped away to Seirah.


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And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the shofar in the mountains of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel came down with him from the mountains, with him before them.


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And he said to them, Follow me, for Jehovah has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.


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And at that time they struck about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped.


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After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.


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And Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim.


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And the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.


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And she was dwelling under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel went up to her for judgment.


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And she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, Has not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded: Go and proceed to Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun;


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and I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand.


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And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!


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And she said, I will walk to go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.


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And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men at his feet, and Deborah went up with him.


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Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the plain at Zaanaim, near Kedesh.


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And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.


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And Deborah said to Barak, Up! For this is the day in which Jehovah has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not Jehovah gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men behind him.


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And Jehovah routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.


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But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not one was left.


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However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.


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And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear. And when he had turned aside to her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket.


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And he said to her, Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. So she opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him.


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And he said to her, Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, Is there any man here? you shall say, No.


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Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. Thus he died.


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And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, I will show you the man whom you are seeking. And when he went into her tent, behold, Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple.


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And the hand of the sons of Israel continued and proceeded to grow stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had cut off Jabin king of Canaan.


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Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah; I will make music unto Jehovah the God of Israel.


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Jehovah, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, even the clouds dropped water;


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In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, and the travelers walked along the byways.


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They chose new gods; then there was war in the gates; not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.


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My heart is with the governors of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless Jehovah!


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At the sound where they divide the flocks among the places to draw water, there they shall recount the righteous acts of Jehovah, the righteous acts to His village dwellers in Israel; then the people of Jehovah shall go down to the gates.


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Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead your captives captive, O son of Abinoam!


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Then the remnant came down and had dominion over the kings of the nations; for me Jehovah trod down the mighty.


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Out of Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek. After you, Benjamin, with your peoples, from Machir came down governors, and from Zebulun those who bear the staff of scribes.


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And the commanders of Issachar were with Deborah; as was Issachar, so was Barak, sent on foot into the valley. Among the divisions of Reuben there were great resolves of heart.


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Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the pipings for the flocks? At the divisions of Reuben were great searchings of heart.


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Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan, and why did Dan remain on ships? Asher continued at the seashore, and stayed by his landings.


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Zebulun is a people who jeopardized their souls even to death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the field.


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The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought in Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of silver.


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The torrent of Kishon swept them away, that ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, tread on in strength!


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Curse Meroz, said the Angel of Jehovah, curse its inhabitants bitterly, because they did not come to the help of Jehovah, to the help of Jehovah against the mighty.


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Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed is she among women in the tent.


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She stretched her hand to the tent peg, her right hand to the workman's hammer; she has hammered Sisera, she has destroyed his head, she has pierced and struck through his temple.


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At her feet he has bowed down, he has fallen, he has lain down; at her feet he has bowed down, he has fallen; where he has bowed down, there he has fallen destroyed.


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The mother of Sisera has looked through the window, and cried out through the lattice, Why has his chariot delayed to come? Why have the hoof beats of his chariot waited?


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Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: to each chief warrior a girl to love; for Sisera, plunder of dyed garments, plunder of garments embroidered and dyed, two pieces of dyed embroidery for the necks of the plunderers?


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Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Jehovah! But let those who love Him be like the sun when it goes forth in its might. Thus the land was quiet forty years.


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And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. So Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years,


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and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. In the face of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.


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So it was that when Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the sons of the East would come up against them.


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And they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.


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For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as the abundance of locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.


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And Israel was brought exceedingly low before Midian, and the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah.


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that Jehovah sent a man who was a prophet unto the children of Israel, who said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: I have brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage;


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and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.


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Also I said to you, I am Jehovah your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.


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And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from before the Midianites.


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And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him, and said to him, Jehovah is with you, you mighty man of valor!


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Gideon said to Him, O my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? But now Jehovah has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.


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And Jehovah turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you shall deliver Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?


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And he said to Him, O my Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold my company is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.


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And he said to Him, If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then perform a sign for me, that it is You speaking with me.


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Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You. And He said, I will wait until you come back.


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And Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and brought them near.


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And the Angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.


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Then the Angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire rose up out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight.


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And Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of Jehovah. And Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! For I have seen the Angel of Jehovah face to face.


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And Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah Shalom. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.


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Now it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said to him, Take your father's young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and chop down the grove that is beside it;


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and build an altar unto Jehovah your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the grove which you shall chop down.


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And Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as Jehovah had spoken to him. But because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.


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And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the grove that was beside it was chopped down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.


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And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And when they had inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.


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Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has chopped down the grove that was beside it.


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And Joash said to all who stood against him, Would you plead for Baal? Would you deliver him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been torn down!


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Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has torn down his altar.


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Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the sons of the east, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.


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And the Spirit of Jehovah clothed Gideon; and he blew the shofar, and the Abiezrites assembled behind him.


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And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also assembled behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.


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behold, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You have spoken.


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And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.


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Then Gideon said to God, Do not let Your anger burn against me, but let me speak just once more: Let me prove, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.


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Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him arose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.


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And Jehovah said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, that Israel not glorify itself against Me, saying, My own hand has delivered me.


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Now therefore, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him turn back and depart early from Mount Gilead. And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.


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And Jehovah said to Gideon, The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it shall be, that of whom I say to you, This one shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, This one shall not go with you, the same shall not go.


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So he brought the people down to the water. And Jehovah said to Gideon, Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.


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And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water.


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And Jehovah said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.


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So the people took provisions and their shofars in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.


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And it came to pass on the same night that Jehovah said to him, Rise up, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.


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and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. And he went down with Purah his servant to the extremity of the armed men who were in the camp.


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Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the sons of the east, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore for multitude.


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And when Gideon came, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, I have dreamed a dream: Behold, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent lay flat.


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And his companion answered and said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.


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And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he bowed down. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, Arise, for Jehovah has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.


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And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a shofar into each man's hand, with empty jars, and torches inside the jars.


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And he said to them, Look at me and do likewise; and behold, when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do:


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When I blow the shofar, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the shofars on every side of the whole camp, and say, For Jehovah and for Gideon!


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So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the shofars and shattered the jars that were in their hands.


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And the three companies blew the shofars and shattered the jars; they held the torches in their left hands and the shofars in their right hands for blowing; and they cried out, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon!


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And when the three hundred blew the shofars, Jehovah set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.


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And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and chased after the Midianites.


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And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the waters as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. And all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the waters as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.


text:
And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.


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Now the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they strongly complained against him.


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So he said to them, What have I done now in comparison to you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?


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God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison to you? Then their anger toward him subsided when he spoke those words.


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And when Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men with him crossed over, exhausted but still pursuing.


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And he said to the men of Succoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.


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And the rulers of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?


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And Gideon said, Therefore, when Jehovah has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!


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And he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.


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So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower!


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Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the army of the sons of the east; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.


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And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah; and he struck the army while the camp felt secure.


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And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.


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And he seized a young man of the men of Succoth and inquired of him; and he wrote down for him the rulers of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.


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And he came to the men of Succoth and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you have taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?


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And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he gave knowledge to the men of Succoth.


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And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor? And they answered, As you are, so were they; each one with the appearance of the son of a king.


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And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Jehovah lives, if you had let them live, I would not have killed you.


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And he said to Jether his firstborn, Rise up and kill them! But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.


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So Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise up yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength. So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels' necks.


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Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you and your son, and your son's son also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.


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And Gideon said to them, I shall not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; Jehovah shall rule over you.


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And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder. For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.


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And they answered, We will extend to give them. And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder.


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And the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple garments which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels' necks.


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And Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel committed adultery with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.


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Thus Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. And the land was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.


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And Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.


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And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned back and committed adultery with the Baals, and established Baal-Berith as their god.


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Thus the children of Israel did not remember Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies all around;


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nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) according to all the good he had done for Israel.


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Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,


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Please speak in the ears of all the lords of Shechem: Which is better for you, for all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal to rule over you, or for one to rule over you? Remember that I am your own flesh and bone.


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And his mother's brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the ears of all the lords of Shechem; and their heart was inclined after Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.


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And they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the house of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, who went after him.


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And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he had hidden himself.


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And all the lords of Shechem gathered together, all the house of Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree that was situated at Shechem.


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Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them: Listen to me, you lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you!


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The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, Reign over us!


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But the olive tree said to them, Should I cease from my fatness, with which they honor God and men, and go to sway over the trees?


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But the fig tree said to them, Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?


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But the vine said to them, Should I cease my new wine, which cheers both God and men, and go to sway over the trees?


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And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and seek refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon!


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Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the dealings of his hands;


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but you have risen up against my father's house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your brother;


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if then you have dealt in truth and integrity towards Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.


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But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the lords of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come from the lords of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech!


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And Jotham fled and escaped; and he went to Beer and dwelt there, away from the face of Abimelech his brother.


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God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem; and the lords of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,


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that the wrong done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and upon the lords of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.


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And the lords of Shechem set an ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was reported to Abimelech.


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Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the lords of Shechem trusted him.


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And they went out into the fields, and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and rejoiced. And they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.


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And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?


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Would therefore that this people were given into my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech, Increase your army and come out!


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And he sent messengers to Abimelech deceitfully, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and behold, they are fortifying the city against you.


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And it shall be in the morning as the sun rises, that you shall rise up early and rush upon the city; and when he and the people with him come out against you, you shall do to them as your hand shall find to do.


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So Abimelech and all the people with him rose by night, and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.


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When Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate, Abimelech and the people with him rose up from the ambush.


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And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains! But Zebul said to him, You are seeing the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.


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And Gaal spoke again and said, Behold, people are coming down from the midst of the land, and another company is coming from the plain by way of the fortunetellers.


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Then Zebul said to him, Where indeed is your mouth now, with which you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Are not these the people whom you have despised? Go out now and fight with them.


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And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded, to the entrance of the gate.


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Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so as to not dwell in Shechem.


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And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they reported to Abimelech.


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And he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field, watching. And behold, the people were coming out of the city; and he rose up against them and struck them.


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And Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and struck them.


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And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he broke down the city and sowed it with salt.


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And when all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard it, they entered the underground chambers of the house of the god Berith.


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And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people with him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people with him, What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.


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So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough and followed Abimelech, put them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.


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But there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men and women, all the lords of the city, fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up to the top of the tower.


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So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire.


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And he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, that they not say of me, A woman killed him. So his young man thrust him through, and he died.


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Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.


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And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned upon their own heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.


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After Abimelech there arose to deliver Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim.


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And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys; they also had thirty towns, which are called Havoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.


text:
And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and served the Baals and Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook Jehovah and did not serve Him.


text:
So the anger of Jehovah burned against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon.


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And that year they shattered and oppressed the children of Israel; for eighteen years, all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead.


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Moreover the sons of Ammon also crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.


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And the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah, saying, We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!


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So Jehovah said to the children of Israel, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the sons of Ammon and from the Philistines?


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Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites have oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand.


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And the children of Israel said to Jehovah, We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good in Your eyes; only deliver us this day, we pray.


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And they put away the foreign gods from among them and served Jehovah. And His soul was grieved because of Israel's troubles.


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Then the sons of Ammon gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel assembled together and encamped in Mizpah.


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And the people, the rulers of Gilead, said to one another, Who is the man who will begin the fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.


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Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a woman of prostitution; and Gilead begot Jephthah.


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Gilead's wife bore sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, You shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.


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And Jephthah fled from before his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men collected around Jephthah and went out with him.


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And so it was, when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.


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And then they said to Jephthah, Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.


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So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?


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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.


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And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and Jehovah delivers them up before me, shall I be your head?


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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Jehovah is witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.


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Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah.


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And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against my land?


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And the king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.


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and said to him, Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;


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for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.


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Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass through your land. But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained in Kadesh.


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And they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.


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Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Please let us pass through your land into our place.


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But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.


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And Jehovah the God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that land.


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They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.


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And now Jehovah the God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites before His people Israel; should you then possess it?


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Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? Thus, whatever Jehovah our God dispossesses before us, we will possess.


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And now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them?


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While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why have you not recovered them within that time?


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Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you are wronging me by fighting against me. May Jehovah, the Judge, render judgment this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.


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Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on over toward the sons of Ammon.


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And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If You will give over to deliver up the sons of Ammon into my hands,


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then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, shall surely be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.


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So Jephthah passed over toward the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah delivered them into his hands.


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And he struck them from Aroer as far as Minnith; twenty cities; and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.


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And when Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.


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And it came to pass when he saw her, that he tore his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back on it.


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So she said to him, My father, if you have opened your mouth unto Jehovah, do unto me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because Jehovah has taken vengeance upon your enemies, the sons of Ammon.


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And she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I.


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And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.


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And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow which he had vowed. She had known no man. And it became a custom in Israel,


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that the daughters of Israel went four days each year, year after year, to recount the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.


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Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!


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And Jephthah said to them, My people and I were in a great struggle with the sons of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands.


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So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I put my soul into my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon; and Jehovah delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?


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Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.


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The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, Let me cross over, the men of Gilead would say to him, Are you an Ephraimite? If he said, No,


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then they would say to him, Then say, Shibboleth! And he would say, Sibboleth, for he could not speak it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim.


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And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.


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He had thirty sons. And he sent thirty daughters in marriage outside, and brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.


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He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.


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Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites.


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Again the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.


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Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.


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And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman and said to her, Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.


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For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.


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And the woman came and told her husband, saying, A Man of God has come to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.


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And He said to me, Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death.


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Then Manoah prayed to Jehovah, and said, O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the boy who is to be born.


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And God heeded the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.


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And the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, Behold, the Man who came to me the other day has appeared to me!


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And Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, Are You the Man who spoke to the woman? And He said, I am.


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And Manoah said, Now let Your words come to pass! What are the ordinances for the boy, and what are his works?


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She shall not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor shall she drink wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I have commanded her let her take heed.


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And Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.


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And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you shall offer it unto Jehovah. (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of Jehovah.)


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And Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?


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So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah. And He did an extraordinary thing while Manoah and his wife were watching;


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it happened as the flame went up toward the heavens from the altar; that the Angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar! And Manoah and his wife were watching this, and they fell on their faces to the ground.


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And the Angel of Jehovah appeared no more to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of Jehovah.


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But his wife said to him, If Jehovah had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.


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So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.


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Then his father and mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is pleasing to my eyes.


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But his father and mother did not know that it was of Jehovah, that He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.


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So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came roaring toward him.


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And the Spirit of Jehovah rushed upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.


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After some days, when he returned to take her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion.


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And he took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. And when he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.


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So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men usually did this.


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And Samson said to them, Let me propound a riddle to you. If you expound to declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.


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But if you are not able to declare it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. And they said to him, Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.


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And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And for three days they were not able to expound the riddle.


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But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson's wife, Entice your husband, that he may expound the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us in order to make us poor? Is that not so?


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Then Samson's wife wept before him, and said, You only hate me! You do not love me! You have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not expounded it to my father or my mother; so should I declare it to you?


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And she wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. And she declared the riddle to the sons of her people.


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And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down: What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them: If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle!


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And the Spirit of Jehovah rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had declared the riddle; thus his anger burned. And he went up to his father's house.


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After some days, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, Let me go in to my wife, into her room. But her father would not permit him to go in.


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Her father said, I thought in my heart that you hated her like an enemy; therefore I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, take her instead.


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And Samson said to them, This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines when I am doing evil to them!


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And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes; and he took torches, turned tail to tail, and put a torch between the two tails.


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When he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.


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Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion. So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.


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And Samson said to them, Since you did a thing like this, I shall avenge myself on you, and after that I will cease.


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And he struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.


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And the men of Judah said, Why have you come up against us? So they answered, We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.


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Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so I have done to them.


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But they said to him, We have come down to bind you, to deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.


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And they spoke to him, saying, No, but we will tie to bind you and deliver you into their hand; but we will not put you to death. And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.


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When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. And the Spirit of Jehovah rushed upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds melted from his hands.


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And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck a thousand men with it.


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Then Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men!


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And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi.


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And he became very thirsty; so he cried out to Jehovah and said, You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?


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And God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.


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When the Gazites were told, saying, Samson has come here! they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, In the morning, when it is daylight, we shall kill him.


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And Samson lay down till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron.


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And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.


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And Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.


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And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh shoots, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.


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So the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh shoots, not yet dried, and she bound him with them.


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Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! But he broke the shoots as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.


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Then Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me with what you may be bound.


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So he said to her, If they bind to tie me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.


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Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like thread.


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Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you may be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom;


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so she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom.


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Then she said to him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.


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And it came to pass, when she had pressed upon him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was vexed to death,


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that he told her all his heart, and said to her, No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.


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And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and summoned the rulers of the Philistines, saying, Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart. So the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand.


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And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him, and his strength depart from him.


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And she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! So he awoke from his sleep, and thought, I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free! But he had not perceived that Jehovah had departed from him.


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And the Philistines took him and bored out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he was grinding in the prison house.


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Now the rulers of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said: Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands!


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And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, the destroyer of our land, and the one who multiplied our dead.


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And it happened, when their hearts were feeling good, that they said, Summon Samson, that he may play for us. So they summoned Samson from the prison house, and he made sport before them. And they made him stand between the pillars.


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And Samson said to the lad who held his hand, Let me feel the pillars which support the house, that I may lean on them.


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Now the house was full of men and women. All the rulers of the Philistines were there; about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson made sport.


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And Samson called out to Jehovah, saying, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, only this once, O God, that I may once take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!


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And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left.


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And Samson said, Let my soul die with the Philistines! And he pushed with all his might, and the house fell upon the rulers and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.


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And his brothers and all his father's house came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.


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And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and about which you had sworn an oath, even saying it in my ears; behold the silver is with me, I have taken it. And his mother said, Blessed of Jehovah are you, my son!


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So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly consecrated the silver from my hand unto Jehovah for my son, to make a graven image, and a molten image; now therefore, I will return it to you.


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Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a graven image, and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah.


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And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and household idols; and he confirmed the hand of one of his sons, who became his priest.


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Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and sojourned there.


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And the man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn wherever he could find a place. And he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he made his way.


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And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn wherever I may find.


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And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance. So the Levite went in.


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And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him.


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And Micah confirmed the hand of the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.


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In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them.


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So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, Go, search the land. So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.


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While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, Who has brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?


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So they said to him, Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.


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So the five men departed and went to Laish. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There was no possession of restraint putting them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians, and they had no business with anyone.


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And the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, What is your report?


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So they said, Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and behold it is very good. Will you sit still? Do not be sluggish to go to enter to possess the land.


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When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.


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And six hundred men of the family of the Danites set out from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.


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And they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kirjath Jearim.)


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Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish answered and said to their brethren, Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a graven image, and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.


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And they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man, to the house of Micah, and asked after his welfare.


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And the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.


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And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up, entered there, took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten image. And the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.


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And when these went into Micah's house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten image, the priest said to them, What are you doing?


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And they said to him, Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?


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So the priest's heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went among the people.


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When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.


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And they called out to the sons of Dan. So they turned their faces and said to Micah, What ails you, that you have assembled together?


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And he said, You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, What ails you?


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And the sons of Dan said to him, Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest men of bitter souls fall upon you, and you lose your soul, with the souls of your household!


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And the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.


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And they took what Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.


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There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no business with anyone. It was in the valley next to Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there.


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And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.


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And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.


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And they set up for themselves Micah's graven image which he had made, all the days the house of God was in Shiloh.


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And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning in the remote areas of the mountains of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself, a woman from Bethlehem in Judah.


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But his concubine committed adultery against him, and went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four months of days.


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And her husband rose up and went after her, to speak to her heart, to bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him.


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And his father-in-law, the young woman's father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there.


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And it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart; but the young woman's father said to his son-in-law, Sustain your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.


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So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman's father said to the man, Please accept my invitation to stay the night, and let your heart be merry.


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And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law pressed upon him; so he turned back and lodged there.


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And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman's father said, Please sustain your heart. So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate.


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And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said to him, Behold, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. Behold, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow go your way early, so that you may go to your tent.


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However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose up and departed, and came to a place opposite Jebus (which is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him.


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They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.


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But his master said to him, We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah.


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And he said to his servant, Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and lodge in Gibeah or in Ramah.


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And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.


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And they turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open place of the city, for no one received them into his house to lodge.


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And behold, an old man came in from his work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim; he was sojourning in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites.


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And when he lifted up his eyes, he saw the traveling man in the open place of the city; and the old man said, Where are you going, and where do you come from?


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And he said to him, We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote areas of the mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of Jehovah. But no one is receiving me into his house,


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even though we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.


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And the old man said, Peace to you! However, let all your needs be upon me; only do not spend the night in the open place.


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So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.


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Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, certain men of the city, sons of wickedness surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring out the man who has come to your house, that we may know him.


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And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not do this disgraceful folly.


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Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them whatever seems good to your eyes; but to this man do not do such a disgraceful thing!


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But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her wantonly all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go.


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Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, till it was light.


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And when her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, behold the woman, his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold.


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And he said to her, Get up and let us be going. But there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man rose up and went to his place.


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And when he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces with her bones, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.


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And so it was that all who saw it said, No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day. Determine, take counsel, and speak up!


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So all the sons of Israel came out, from Dan to Beer-sheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man, unto Jehovah at Mizpah.


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And the chiefs of all the people of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen who drew the sword.


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(Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, Tell us, how did this wickedness happen?


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And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to lodge.


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And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They had thought to kill me, but instead they have humbled my concubine so that she died.


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So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the land of the inheritance of Israel, because they have committed lewdness and disgraceful folly in Israel.


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And all the people rose up as one man, saying, None of us shall go to his tent, nor shall any turn away to his house;


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We shall take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to carry provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the disgrace that they have done in Israel.


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And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What is this evil that has been done among you?


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Now therefore, deliver up the men, the sons of wickedness who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel! But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the sons of Israel.


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And the sons of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the sons of Israel.


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And from their cities at that time the sons of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred choice men.


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Among all this people were seven hundred choice men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.


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Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.


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And the sons of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, Which of us shall go up first to battle against the sons of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah first!


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And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.


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And the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day destroyed down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of Israel.


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And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again set the battle in array at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day.


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And the sons of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until evening, and asked counsel of Jehovah, saying, Shall I again draw near for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Go up against him.


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And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroyed down to the ground eighteen thousand men of the sons of Israel; all these drew the sword.


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And all the children of Israel, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before Jehovah and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Jehovah.


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and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease? And Jehovah said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.


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And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times.


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And the sons of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.


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And the sons of Benjamin thought, They are struck down before us, as at first. But the sons of Israel had said, Let us flee and draw them away from the city into the highways.


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So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel's men in ambush burst forth from their places in the plain of Geba.


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And ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was heavy. But the Benjamites did not know that evil was upon them.


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And Jehovah struck down Benjamin before Israel. And the sons of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred of Benjamin; all who drew the sword.


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So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were struck down. And the men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they had trusted on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.


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And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush drew out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword.


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Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city,


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whereupon the men of Israel turned around in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they thought, Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle.


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But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and behold the whole city had gone up in smoke to the heavens.


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And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that evil had come upon them.


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Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; and the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst.


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They surrounded Benjamin, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the rising sun.


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And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they thrust upon five thousand of them on the highways; and pursued them to Gidom, and killed two thousand men.


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So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor.


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But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months.


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And the men of Israel turned back against the sons of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword; entire cities, beasts, and all who were found. They also set fire to every city they found.


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Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.


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And the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening, and lifted up their voices and wept with great weeping,


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and said, O Jehovah the God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?


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And it came to pass the next morning, that the people arose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.


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And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who did not come up to Jehovah at Mizpah, saying, He shall die the death.


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And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, One tribe is cut off from Israel today.


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What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah not to give them our daughters as wives?


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And they said, What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to Jehovah? And, behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.


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And the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children.


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And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man by lying with him.


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And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.


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And the whole congregation sent word to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.


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And Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them.


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And the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?


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And they said, There must be an inheritance for the remnant of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel.


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However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.


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Then they said, Behold, there is a yearly feast of Jehovah in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.


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and watch; and when the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; and go to the land of Benjamin.


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And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, Be gracious to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, thus making yourselves guilty of your oath.


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And the sons of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.


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So the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they departed from there, every man to his inheritance.


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Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the land of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.


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The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the land of Moab and remained there.


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And they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.


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Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that Jehovah had visited His people by giving them bread.


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Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.


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And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. Jehovah deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.


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Jehovah grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband. And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.


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And Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?


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Turn back, my daughters, go; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons,


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would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of Jehovah has gone out against me!


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And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.


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And she said, Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.


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But Ruth said: Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.


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Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.


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So the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was in a stir because of them; and they said, Is this Naomi?


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And she said to them, Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.


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I went out full, and Jehovah has brought me back home empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since Jehovah has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?


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Thus Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the land of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.


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Now Naomi had an acquaintance, a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.


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And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Please let me go to the fields, and glean heads of grain after him in whose eyes I may find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.


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And she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the fields belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.


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And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you! And they answered him, Jehovah bless you!


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And the servant who was appointed over the reapers answered and said, It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the land of Moab.


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And she said, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she sat a little in the house.


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Then Boaz said to Ruth, You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women.


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Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.


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And she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?


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And Boaz answered and said to her, It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you have not known before.


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May Jehovah reward your work, and full wages be given you by Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.


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And she said, Let me find favor in your eyes, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken to the heart of your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.


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And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar. So she sat beside the reapers, and he held out parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and had some left over.


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And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.


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Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.


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So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.


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And she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out and gave to her what had been left over after she had been satisfied.


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And her mother-in-law said to her, Where have you gleaned today? And where have you worked? Blessed is the one taking notice of you. So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.


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And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is he of Jehovah, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead! And Naomi said to her, This man is next of kin to us, a kinsman redeemer.


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And Ruth the Moabitess said, He also said to me, You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.


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And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that you not be fallen upon in another field.


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So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.


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Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek a secure rest for you, that it may be well with you?


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Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our kinsman? Behold, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.


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Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, dress up and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.


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And it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you shall do.


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So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had charged her.


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And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was glad, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.


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And it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.


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And he said, Who are you? So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Spread your skirt over your maidservant, for you are a kinsman redeemer.


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And he said, Blessed are you of Jehovah, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.


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And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you speak, for all the people of my town know that you are a woman of strength.


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Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will redeem you, good, let him do it. But if he does not want to redeem you, then I will be your kinsman redeemer, as Jehovah lives! Lie down until morning.


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So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. And he said, Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.


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And he said, Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. And she went into the city.


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And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Is that you, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done for her.


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And she said, These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, Do not go empty to your mother-in-law.


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Then she said, Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.


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And Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the kinsman redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So he said, Ho there, you! Turn aside and sit down here. So he came aside and sat down.


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And he said to the kinsman redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.


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And I thought to uncover your ear to say, Buy it in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you. And he said, I will redeem it.


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Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.


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And the kinsman redeemer said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.


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Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to establish anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was an attestation in Israel.


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And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi.


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Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.


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And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. Jehovah make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.


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May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the seed which Jehovah shall give to you from this young woman.


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So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, Jehovah gave her conception, and she bore a son.


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And the women said to Naomi, Blessed is Jehovah, who has not left you this day without a kinsman redeemer; and may his name be famous in Israel!


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And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.


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Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.


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Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.


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And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.


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And this man went up from his city year after year to bow down and sacrifice unto Jehovah of Hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests unto Jehovah there.


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And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.


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But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although Jehovah had closed up her womb.


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And her rival also provoked her to vexation, to make her tremble, because Jehovah had closed up her womb.


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And so it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of Jehovah, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.


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Then Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why does your heart quiver? Am I not better to you than ten sons?


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So Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of Jehovah.


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And she vowed a vow and said, O Jehovah of Hosts, if You will look to see the affliction of Your handmaid and remember me, and not forget Your handmaid, but will give Your handmaid a male child, then I shall give him unto Jehovah all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.


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Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.


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And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of intense spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before Jehovah.


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Do not consider your handmaid for a daughter of worthlessness, for out of the abundance of my anxiety and vexation I have spoken until now.


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Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.


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And she said, Let your handmaid find favor in your eyes. So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.


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And they arose early in the morning and bowed down before Jehovah, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and Jehovah remembered her.


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So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked for him from Jehovah.


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But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before Jehovah and remain there always.


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And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what is good in your eyes; wait until you have weaned him. Only may Jehovah establish His word. So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.


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And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of Jehovah at Shiloh: the child, the boy.


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And she said, O my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here to pray unto Jehovah.


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Therefore I also have given him unto Jehovah; as long as he lives he is loaned unto Jehovah. And he bowed down before Jehovah there.


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And Hannah prayed and said: My heart has rejoiced in Jehovah; my horn has been exalted in Jehovah. My mouth has been enlarged over my enemies, because I have rejoiced in Your salvation.


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Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come out of your mouth, for Jehovah is the Mighty God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.


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Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble.


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He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's, and He set the world upon them.


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He guards the feet of His saints, but the wicked are silent in darkness. For man does not prevail by might.


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The adversaries of Jehovah are broken in pieces; from the heavens He thunders against them. Jehovah judges the ends of the earth. He gives strength to His king, and exalts the horn of His anointed.


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And the custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the flesh was boiling.


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And he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. Thus they did in Shiloh to all Israel who came there.


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Also, before they burned the fat with smoke, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, Give flesh for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled flesh from you, but raw.


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And if the man said to him, It is time to burn the fat to make it smoke, then you may take as much as your soul desires; he would then answer him, No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.


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Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah, for the men had spurned the offering of Jehovah.


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Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him year after year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.


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And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah give you seed from this woman for the petition which has been loaned unto Jehovah. And they went to their place.


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And Jehovah visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up with Jehovah.


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Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tent of meeting.


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And he said to them, Why do you do such things? For I am hearing of your evil dealings from all the people.


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No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I am hearing. You cause the people of Jehovah to transgress.


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If a man sins against man, God will judge him. But if a man sins against Jehovah, who shall intercede for him? Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because Jehovah desired to kill them.


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And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, Thus says Jehovah: Have I not revealed to show Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?


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Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to bear the ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings by fire of the children of Israel?


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Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded for My dwelling place, and honor your sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?


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Therefore Jehovah the God of Israel says: I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now Jehovah says: Far be it from Me! For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.


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Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there shall not be an old man in your house.


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And you shall see an adversary in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God did for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house for all time.


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And any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall be to consume your eyes and grieve your soul. And all the increase of your house shall die as young men.


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And this shall be a sign to you that shall come upon your two sons, upon Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.


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Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My soul. I will build him a lasting house, and he shall walk before My anointed for all time.


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And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and say, Please, join me to the priesthood, that I may eat a piece of bread.


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And the boy Samuel served Jehovah before Eli. And the Word of Jehovah was rare in those days; visions were not breaking through.


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And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes had begun to grow dim that he could not see,


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and the lamp of God had not yet gone out in the temple of Jehovah where the ark of God was, where Samuel was lying down,


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And he ran to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. And he said, I have not called; go back and lie down. And he went and lay down.


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And Jehovah called yet again, Samuel. So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here I am, for you called me. He answered, I have not called, my son; go back and lie down.


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And Jehovah called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here I am, for you did call me. Then Eli perceived that Jehovah was calling the boy.


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Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you shall say, Speak, Jehovah, for Your servant is listening. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.


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And Jehovah came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel answered, Speak, for Your servant is listening.


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And Jehovah said to Samuel: Behold, I am doing something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.


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In that day I shall carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.


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For I have declared to him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he has known, because his sons are being despicable, and he has not restrained them.


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And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.


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And Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel was afraid to make known the vision to Eli.


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And he said, What is the word that He has spoken to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He has spoken to you.


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And Samuel told him the matter, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is Jehovah. Let Him do what is good in His eyes.


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And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was being established as a prophet of Jehovah.


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And Jehovah appeared again in Shiloh. For Jehovah revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the Word of Jehovah.


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And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.


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And the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined the battle, Israel was struck down before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men at the battle line in the field.


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And when the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has Jehovah struck us down today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.


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So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.


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And when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth shook.


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And when the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, What is this sound of great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews? Then they understood that the ark of Jehovah had come into the camp.


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And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp! And they said, Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before.


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Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck Egypt with all the plagues in the wilderness.


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Be strong and be like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be like men, and fight!


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So the Philistines fought, and Israel was struck down, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.


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And a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and earth on his head.


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And when he came, behold Eli was sitting on a seat by the wayside, watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and reported, all the city cried out.


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When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, What is this sound of tumult? And the man came quickly and reported to Eli.


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And the man said to Eli, I am the one who came from the battle line, and I have fled today from the battle line. And he said, What happened, my son?


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And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, have died; and the ark of God has been taken.


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And it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.


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And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her pangs came upon her.


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And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, Do not fear, for you have borne a son. But she did not answer, nor was her heart set on it.


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And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory has departed from Israel! because the ark of God had been taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband.


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When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it next to Dagon.


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And when those of Ashdod arose early the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. So they took Dagon and put him back on his place.


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And when they arose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. The head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon's torso was left to him.


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Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.


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And the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon those of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.


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And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand has been severe upon us and Dagon our god.


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Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the rulers of the Philistines, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought to Gath. So they brought around the ark of the God of Israel.


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And so it was, after they had brought it around, that the hand of Jehovah was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.


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Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought around the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!


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So they sent and gathered together all the rulers of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people. For there was a death panic throughout all the city, because the hand of God had been very heavy there.


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And the men who had not died were stricken with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to the heavens.


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And the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? Make known to us how we shall send it to its place.


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And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but turn it back to return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.


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So they said, What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him? And they answered, Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the rulers of the Philistines. For the same plague was upon all of you and upon your rulers.


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Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that are ruining the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps He will lighten His hand from off you, from off your gods, and from off your land.


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Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?


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Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and when you have tied the cows to the cart, take their calves home, away from them.


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And take the ark of Jehovah and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side; and send it away, and let it go.


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And watch: if it goes up the way to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that has struck us; it has happened to us by chance.


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And the men did so: They took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.


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And they set the ark of Jehovah on the cart, and the chest with the gold mice and the images of their tumors.


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And the cows headed straight for the way to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the rulers of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.


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Now those of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.


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And the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; and a large stone was there. And they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering unto Jehovah.


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And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices that day unto Jehovah.


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And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering unto Jehovah: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;


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and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five rulers, both fortified cities and rural villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of Jehovah, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.


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And He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people mourned because Jehovah had struck the people with a great slaughter.


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And the men of Beth Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?


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And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of Jehovah; come down and take it up with you.


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And the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of Jehovah, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Jehovah.


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So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim many days; it was twenty years. And all the house of Israel mourned after Jehovah.


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And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you are returning unto Jehovah with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts for Jehovah, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.


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And they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before Jehovah. And they fasted that day, and said there, We have sinned against Jehovah. And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.


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Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid before the Philistines.


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And the sons of Israel said to Samuel, Do not cease to cry out unto Jehovah our God for us, that He may deliver us out of the hand of the Philistines.


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And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering unto Jehovah. And Samuel cried out unto Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answered him.


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And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But Jehovah thundered with a loud noise upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were smitten before Israel.


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And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car.


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And Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, Thus far has Jehovah helped us.


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So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.


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And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territories from the hands of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.


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And he went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places.


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And he returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar unto Jehovah.


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The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beer-sheba.


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But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.


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and said to him, Behold, you have become old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint us a king to judge us like all the nations.


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But the thing made Samuel's eyes quiver when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Jehovah.


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And Jehovah said to Samuel, Consent to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, for Me to not reign over them.


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According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day, with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods, so they are doing to you also.


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Now therefore, consent to their voice. However, you shall solemnly testify to them, and inform them regarding the manner of the king who shall reign over them.


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And he said, This shall be the manner of the king who shall reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.


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He will appoint commanders over his thousands and commanders over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots.


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And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants.


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And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and make them do his work.


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And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.


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Nevertheless the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,


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that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.


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And Jehovah said to Samuel, Consent to their voice, and cause a king to reign over them. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Each of you go to his city.


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Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.


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And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.


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Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, Please, take one of the servants with you, and arise, go search for the donkeys.


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And he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.


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And when they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, Come, let us return, lest my father leave the donkeys and become concerned about us.


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And he said to him, Behold now, there is a man of God in this city, and he is an honorable man; all that he speaks succeeds to come to pass. Now let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.


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Then Saul said to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?


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And the servant answered Saul again and said, Behold, I have here at hand one fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.


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(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: Come, let us go to the seer; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.)


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Then Saul said to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was.


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And as they went up the hill to the city, they met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, Is the seer here?


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And they answered them and said, Yes, behold he is ahead of you. Hurry now; for today he has come to this city, because there is a sacrifice of the people today at the high place.


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As soon as you come into the city, you will surely find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up, for today you will find him.


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So they went up to the city; and as they were coming into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out to meet them, to go up to the high place.


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Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may deliver My people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to me.


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And when Samuel saw Saul, Jehovah said to him, Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people.


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And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and tomorrow I will send you away and will declare to you all that is in your heart.


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And as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your heart on them, for they have been found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and on all your father's house.


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And Saul answered and said, Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken this word to me?


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And Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and had them sit in the place at the head of those who were invited; which were about thirty men.


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And Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, Set it beside you.


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And the cook took up the leg with what was on it and set it before Saul. And he said, Behold here is what was reserved. Set it before you and eat; for until this appointed time it has been kept for you, since I said I invited the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day.


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And when they had come down from the high place into the city, he spoke with Saul on the top of the house.


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And they arose early; and it was about daybreak that Samuel summoned Saul to the top of the house, saying, Arise, that I may send you away. And Saul arose, and both of them went outside, he and Samuel.


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And as they were going down to the city limits, Samuel said to Saul, Command the servant to go on ahead of us. And he went on. But you stand here a moment, that I may proclaim to you the Word of God.


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Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: Is it not because Jehovah has anointed you ruler over His inheritance.


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When you depart from me today, you will find two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. And now your father has ceased speaking about the donkeys and has become concerned about you, saying, What shall I do about my son?


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Then you shall go on farther and come to the plain of Tabor. There three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.


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After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a lute, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.


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And the Spirit of Jehovah will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.


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And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as your hand finds to do; for God is with you.


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You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you shall do.


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And so it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God changed him with another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.


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When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.


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And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that behold he prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?


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And a man from there answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?


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And Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, Where did you go? And he said, To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we came to Samuel.


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And Saul said to his uncle, He reported to make known to us that the donkeys had been found. But about the matter of the kingdom, he did not tell him what Samuel had said.


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and said to the children of Israel, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those oppressing you.


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But you have today rejected your God, who Himself delivered you out of all your adversities and your afflictions; and you have said to Him, No, set a king over us! Now therefore, present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes and by your thousands.


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When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was chosen. And Saul the son of Kish was taken. But when they sought him, he could not be found.


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Therefore they inquired of Jehovah further, Has the man come here yet? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he is hiding himself among the equipment.


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So they ran and brought him from there; and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.


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And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see him whom Jehovah has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people? And all the people shouted and said, Long live the king!


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Then Samuel explained to the people the ordinances of the king's office, and wrote it in a book and set it before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.


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And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and mighty men went with him, whose hearts God had touched.


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But the sons of worthlessness said, How can this man deliver us? So they despised him, and brought him no gifts. But he kept silent.


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Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.


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And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition I will make a covenant with you, to bore out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel.


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And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.


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So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke the words in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept.


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And behold, Saul was coming behind the herd from the field; and Saul said, What is with the people, that they weep? And they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh.


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And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen. And the fear of Jehovah fell on the people, and they came out as one man.


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And when he numbered them at Bezek, the sons of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.


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And they said to the messengers who came, Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance. And the messengers came and reported it to the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.


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Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do with us whatever is good in your eyes.


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So it was, the next day, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch, and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And it happened that those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.


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And the people said to Samuel, Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Set forth the men, that we may put them to death.


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But Saul said, Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today Jehovah has worked deliverance in Israel.


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And all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before Jehovah in Gilgal. There they slaughtered sacrifices of peace offerings before Jehovah, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.


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And Samuel said to all Israel: Behold, I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.


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And now, behold the king walking before you; and I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth to this day.


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Look at me. Witness against me before Jehovah and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.


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And they said, You have not cheated us nor oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man's hand.


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And he said to them, Jehovah is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.


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And Samuel said to the people, It is Jehovah who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.


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Now therefore, present yourself, that I may plead with you before Jehovah concerning all the righteous acts of Jehovah which He did with you and your fathers:


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When Jacob had gone into Egypt, and your fathers cried out unto Jehovah, then Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.


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And when they forgot Jehovah their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.


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And they cried out unto Jehovah, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah and served the Baals and Ashtaroth; but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.


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And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies all around; and you dwelt in safety.


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And when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, even though Jehovah your God was your king.


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Now therefore, behold the king whom you have chosen and whom you have asked for. And behold, Jehovah has set a king over you.


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If you will fear Jehovah and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the mouth of Jehovah, then both you and the king who reigns over you shall follow Jehovah your God.


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However, if you do not obey the voice of Jehovah, but rebel against the mouth of Jehovah, then the hand of Jehovah will be against you, as it was against your fathers.


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Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to Jehovah, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to ask for a king for yourselves.


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So Samuel called unto Jehovah, and Jehovah sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared Jehovah and Samuel.


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And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to Jehovah your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king for ourselves.


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And Samuel said to the people, Do not fear. You have done all this evil; yet do not turn aside from following Jehovah, but serve Jehovah with all your heart.


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For Jehovah will not abandon His people, for His great name's sake, because Jehovah has undertaken to make you a people for Himself.


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Moreover, as for me, far be it from me to sin against Jehovah to cease to pray for you; for I have taught you the good and the right way.


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Only fear Jehovah, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.


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Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent each man to his tent.


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And Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the shofar throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear!


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And all Israel heard it said that Saul had struck a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become odious to the Philistines. And the people were summoned after Saul at Gilgal.


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And the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.


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And when the men of Israel saw that they were in straits, for the people were distressed, then the people hid in caves, in crevices, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.


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And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, with all the people behind him, trembling.


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And he waited seven days for Samuel, according to the appointed time; but Samuel had not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.


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So Saul said, Bring the burnt offering and peace offerings here to me. And he offered the burnt offering.


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And it happened, as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, to bless him.


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And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, When I saw that the people had scattered from me, and that you had not come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines were gathering together at Michmash,


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then I said, The Philistines will now come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the face of Jehovah. Therefore I forced myself, and offered a burnt offering.


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And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God, which He has commanded you. For now Jehovah would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.


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But now your kingdom shall not stand. Jehovah has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and Jehovah has ordained him to be ruler over His people, because you have not kept what Jehovah has commanded you.


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And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people found with him, about six hundred men.


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And Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people found with them remained at Gibeah of Benjamin; and the Philistines encamped at Michmash.


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And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward the way to Ophrah, to the land of Shual,


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another company turned toward the way to Beth Horon, and another company turned toward the way of the border overlooking the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.


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Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines thought, Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.


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But all Israel would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle;


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and the price for sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads.


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So it came about, in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.


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Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that was his armorbearer, Come, let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines that is on the other side. But he did not tell his father.


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And Saul was sitting at the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men.


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Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Jehovah at Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.


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Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.


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And Jonathan said to the young man that was his armorbearer, Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that Jehovah will work for us; for nothing restrains Jehovah, to save by many or by few.


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So his armorbearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart. Turn then; behold, I am with you according to your heart.


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If they say thus to us, Wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.


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But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up, for Jehovah has delivered them into our hand; and this will be a sign to us.


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So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.


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And the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will teach you something. And Jonathan said to his armorbearer, Come up after me, for Jehovah has delivered them into the hand of Israel.


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And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And his armorbearer followed, killing them.


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That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within an area of land half the size that a yoke of oxen might plow in a day.


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And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling.


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And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold the multitude had melted away; and they went, striking down one another.


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Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Number and see who has gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there.


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And Saul said to Ahijah, Bring the ark of God here (for the ark of God was with the sons of Israel that day).


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And it happened, while Saul spoke to the priest, that the roar in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand.


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And Saul and all the people with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and behold every man's sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion.


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Moreover the Hebrews who had previously retreated from the Philistines into the surrounding areas, they also joined the camp of the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.


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Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines had fled, they also pursued closely after them in the battle.


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And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, Cursed is the man who eats food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food.


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And when the people had come into the forest, there was the flowing honey; but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.


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But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened.


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Then one of the people said, Your father adjured the people with an oath, saying, Cursed is the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint.


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And Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I have tasted a little of this honey.


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How much better if the people had eaten to feed themselves today of the spoils of their enemies which they have found! For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?


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And they drove back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon; and the people were very faint.


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And the people rushed upon the spoils, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate with the blood.


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And they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people are sinning against Jehovah to eat with the blood! So he said, You have dealt treacherously; roll a large stone to me this moment.


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And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, Bring me here each man his ox and his sheep, slaughter them here, and eat; and do not sin against Jehovah to eat with the blood. So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night, and slaughtered it there.


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And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatever is good in your eyes. And the priest said, Let us draw near to God here.


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And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel? But He did not answer him that day.


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And Saul said, Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was today.


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For as Jehovah lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall be executed to death. But not one of all the people answered him.


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Then he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do what is good in your eyes.


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Therefore Saul said to Jehovah the God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped.


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Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. And Jonathan confessed to him, and said, I have tasted to eat a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Behold, I must die!


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But the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Let it not be! As Jehovah lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.


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So when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies all around: against Moab, against the sons of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he condemned them.


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And he dealt with might and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.


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The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Jishui and Malchishua. And the names of his two daughters: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal.


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The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.


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And war with the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant youth, he gathered them to himself.


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Samuel also said to Saul, Jehovah has sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: I will punish Amalek for what he has done to Israel, how he had laid in wait for him on the way when he came up from Egypt.


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Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.


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So Saul gathered the people together and mustered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.


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And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.


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He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.


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But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.


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I regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My words. And it angered Samuel, and he cried out to Jehovah all night.


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And when Samuel arose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul has come to Carmel, and behold, he is setting up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.


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And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed are you of Jehovah! I have carried out the Word of Jehovah.


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And Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?


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And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice unto Jehovah your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.


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Then Samuel said to Saul, Be quiet! And I will tell you what Jehovah has said to me last night. And he said to him, Speak.


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And Samuel said, When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not Jehovah anoint you king over Israel?


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Now Jehovah sent you on a mission, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them to finish them off.


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Why then have you not obeyed the voice of Jehovah? Why did you swoop down upon the spoils, and do evil in the eyes of Jehovah?


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And Saul said to Samuel, But I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and gone on the mission to which Jehovah sent me, and brought back Agag the king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.


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But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things, the devoted things, to sacrifice unto Jehovah your God in Gilgal.


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And Samuel said: Has Jehovah as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in to obey the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.


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For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, He also has rejected you from being king.


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And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the mouth of Jehovah and your words, because I feared the people and heeded their voice.


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And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, and Jehovah has rejected you from being king over Israel.


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And Samuel said to him, Jehovah has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.


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And he said, I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow down before Jehovah your God.


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Then Samuel said, Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me. So Agag came to him delighted; for Agag thought, Surely the bitterness of death has past.


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But Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before Jehovah at Gilgal.


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And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and Jehovah was sorry that He had made Saul king over Israel.


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And Jehovah said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.


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And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer from the herd at your hand, and say, I have come to sacrifice unto Jehovah.


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And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will make known to you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I say to you.


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And Samuel did what Jehovah spoke, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled to meet him, and said, Do you come in peace?


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And he said, In peace. I have come to sacrifice unto Jehovah. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.


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And it came about, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and thought, Surely the anointed of Jehovah is before Him.


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But Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance nor at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For man does not see as He sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks at the heart.


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So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has Jehovah chosen this one.


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Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, Jehovah has not chosen these.


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And Samuel said to Jesse, Are all the young men here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is grazing the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.


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And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes, and good appearance. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!


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And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of Jehovah rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.


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But the Spirit of Jehovah had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah had fallen upon him.


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Let our lord now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who knows how to play the harp; and it shall be that he shall play it with his hand when the evil spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.


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Then one of the servants answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who knows how to play, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and Jehovah is with him.


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And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul.


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And David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer.


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And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my eyes.


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And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp and played with his hand; and Saul was relieved and well, and the evil spirit departed from him.


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Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered together at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim.


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And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.


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The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.


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And a man came out from the camp of the Philistines between the two armies, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.


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He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was wearing a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.


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The stock of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield bearer went before him.


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And he stood and called out to the ranks of Israel, and said to them, Why have you come out to be arrayed for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.


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If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.


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And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.


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When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.


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Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. And the man was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.


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The three oldest sons of Jesse went out after Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.


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And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.


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And carry these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.


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Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.


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And David arose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the battle line and shouting for the battle.


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And David left the things in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and inquired after the welfare of his brothers.


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And as he talked with them, behold the man came out from the ranks of the armies of the Philistines, between the two armies, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name; and he spoke according to the same words. And David heard.


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And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who comes up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And it shall be that the man who kills him, the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free from taxes in Israel.


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And David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the ranks of the living God!


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And the people answered him in this manner, saying, Thus shall it be done for the man who kills him.


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Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger burned against David, and he said, Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and your naughty heart, for you have come down to see the battle.


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And he turned from him toward another and spoke the same words; and these people answered him according to the first words.


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And when the words which David had spoken were heard, they were reported before Saul; and he sent for him.


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And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant shall go and fight with this Philistine.


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And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.


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And David said to Saul, Your servant was grazing his father's sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,


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I went out after it and struck it, and rescued the lamb out of its mouth; and when it arose against me, I took hold of it by its beard, and struck and killed it.


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Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has reproached the ranks of the living God.


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Moreover David said, Jehovah, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and Jehovah be with you!


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And Saul clothed David with his garments, and he put a bronze helmet on his head, and clothed him with body armor.


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And David girded his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them. And David took them off.


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Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.


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And when the Philistine considered and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and of good appearance.


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And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you are coming to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.


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And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field!


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Then David said to the Philistine, You are coming to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I am coming to you in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have reproached.


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This day Jehovah will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the heavens and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.


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Then all this assembly shall know that Jehovah does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah's, and He has given you into our hands.


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So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.


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And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.


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So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David.


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Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their strong man was dead, they fled.


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And the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the way to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron.


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And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.


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Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.


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So when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.


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And Saul said to him, Lad, whose son are you? And David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.


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Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.


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And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his garments, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.


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And David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was pleasing in the eyes of all the people and also in the eyes of Saul's servants.


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And it happened as they were coming, as David was returning from killing the Philistine, that the women came out from all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of the triad.


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And the women responded as they played, and said: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.


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And Saul was very furious, and the saying made his eyes quiver; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?


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And it happened on the next day that the evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; and there was a spear in Saul's hand.


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And Saul threw the spear, for he thought, I will strike David to the wall! But David turned away from his presence twice.


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Therefore Saul removed him from being with him, and made him his commander over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.


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And Saul said to David, Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the battles of Jehovah. For Saul thought, Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.


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And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?


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But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.


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Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing was agreeable in his eyes.


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And Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, You shall be my son-in-law today.


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And Saul commanded his servants, Speak with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king has delighted in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king's son-in-law.


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And Saul's servants spoke those words in David's ears. And David said, Is it a slight thing in your eyes to be a king's son-in-law, seeing as how I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?


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And Saul said, Thus you shall say to David: The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.


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And when his servants told David these words, the thing was agreeable in David's eyes, to become the king's son-in-law. And the day had not ended;


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therefore David rose up and went out, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.


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And the commanders of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.


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But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David; so Jonathan informed David, saying, My father Saul is seeking to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide.


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And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; and what I observe, I will inform you.


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Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you.


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For he took his soul in his own hands and killed the Philistine, and Jehovah brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then would you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?


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So Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, As Jehovah lives, he shall not be killed.


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And Jonathan called out to David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was before him as in times past.


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And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a great slaughter, and they fled before him.


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And the evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand.


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And Saul sought to strike David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped away from Saul's presence; and he struck the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.


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Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David's wife, informed him, saying, If you do not deliver your soul tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.


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And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a quilt of goats' hair at the head, and covered it with clothes.


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And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a quilt of goats' hair at the head.


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And Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go! Why should I kill you?


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So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.


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And Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing, stationed over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.


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And when it was reported to Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.


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Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. And he asked, and said, Where are Samuel and David? And someone said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.


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So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.


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And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?


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And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan's face, What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?


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And Jonathan said to him, Let it not be! You shall not die! Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small but that he will disclose it in my ear. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!


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And David swore and said, Your father has perceived to know that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But surely, as Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.


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And David said to Jonathan, Behold tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should remain to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third evening.


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If your father notices and misses me, then answer, David has asked for himself a leave of absence that he might run to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.


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If he says thus: Good, your servant will be safe. But if he burns with fury, then know that evil is determined by him.


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Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Jehovah with you. However, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?


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And Jonathan said, Let it not be! For if I perceived to know that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?


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And Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. So both of them went out into the field.


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And Jonathan said to David: Jehovah the God of Israel is witness! When I have searched out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and there is good toward David, and I have not disclosed it in your ear,


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may Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will disclose it in your ear and send you away, that you may go in peace. And Jehovah be with you as He was with my father.


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but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not even when Jehovah has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.


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So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let Jehovah require it at the hand of David's enemies.


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And Jonathan again caused David to swear, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.


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Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.


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And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel.


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and there I will send a lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I answer to say to him, Behold, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come; then, as Jehovah lives, there is peace for you and nothing else.


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But if I say thus to the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond you; go your way, for Jehovah has sent you away.


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Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty.


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Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, Something has happened to him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean.


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And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?


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And he said, Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and thus my brother has commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers. Therefore he has not come to the king's table.


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Then Saul's anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of perverse rebellion! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?


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For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he is a son of death.


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And Saul threw a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.


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So Jonathan rose up from the table in burning anger, and ate no food the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David, because his father had shamed him.


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And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy was with him.


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And he said to the boy, Now run, find the arrows which I am shooting. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.


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When the boy had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, Is not the arrow beyond you?


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And Jonathan called out after the boy, Make haste, hurry, do not delay! So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came back to his master.


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And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose up from a place on the south side, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so.


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And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, May Jehovah be between you and me, and between your seed and my seed, forever. So he rose up and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.


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And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech trembled when he met David, and said to him, Why are you alone, and no one is with you?


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And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has charged me with some business, and said to me, Let no one know anything of the matter about which I am sending you, or what I have commanded you. And I have directed my young men to such and such a place.


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Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.


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And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.


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And David answered the priest, and said to him, Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and in a way the bread is common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel today.


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So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence which had been taken from before Jehovah, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.


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Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds.


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And David said to Ahimelech, Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business came about urgently.


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And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here. And David said, There is none like it; give it to me.


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And the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him in dances, saying: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?


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And he changed his behavior in their eyes, acted like a mad man in their hands, scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall into his beard.


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Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to show madness in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?


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David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.


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And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was of a bitter soul gathered to him. So he became commander over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.


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And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.


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And he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the days that David was in the stronghold.


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And the prophet Gad said to David, Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah. So David departed and came into the forest of Hereth.


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And when Saul heard that David and the men with him had been discovered (now Saul was staying in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him);


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then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?


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All of you have conspired against me, and not one is disclosing in my ear that my son made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and not one of you is sorry for me nor is disclosing in my ear that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.


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Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.


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And he inquired of Jehovah for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.


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So the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob. And they all came to the king.


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And Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise up against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day?


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And Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in all your house?


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Have I this day begun to inquire of God for him? Let it not be! Let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to any in the house of my father; for your servant has known nothing of all this, little or much.


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And the king said to the guards who stood about him, Turn and kill the priests of Jehovah, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he was fleeing and did not disclose it in my ear. But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to fall upon the priests of Jehovah.


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And the king said to Doeg, You turn and fall upon the priests! And Doeg the Edomite turned and fell upon the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men bearing a linen ephod.


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Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep; with the edge of the sword.


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And David said to Abiathar, I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would report to inform Saul. I have brought about the death of all the souls of your father's house.


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Stay with me, do not fear; for he who seeks my soul seeks your soul; but with me you shall be safeguarded.


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Then they reported to David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are plundering the threshing floors.


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Therefore David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and strike these Philistines? And Jehovah said to David, Go and strike the Philistines, and save Keilah.


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And David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?


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So David inquired of Jehovah once again. And Jehovah answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah. For I am delivering the Philistines into your hand.


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And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a great slaughter, and led away their livestock. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.


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And it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he had come down with an ephod in his hand.


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And it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, God has alienated him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.


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And Saul summoned all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.


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But David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod here.


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Then David said, O Jehovah the God of Israel, Your servant has heard to understand that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.


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Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Jehovah the God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down.


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Then David said, Will the lords of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver you.


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And David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he left off to go.


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And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.


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And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his soul. And David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a forest.


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And he said to him, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. And my father Saul knows that.


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And the two of them made a covenant before Jehovah. And David stayed in the forest, and Jonathan went to his house.


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Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the forest, in the hill of Hachilah, which is south of the desert?


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Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul. Come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand.


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Please go and find out for sure, know and see the place where his feet are, and who has seen him there; for it has been said that he is crafty and shrewd.


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See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I shall go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I shall search for him throughout all the thousands of Judah.


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And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain to the south of the desert.


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And when Saul and his men went to seek him, they reported it to David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.


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And Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to catch them.


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Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.


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Now it happened, when Saul had returned from going after the Philistines, that it was reported to him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi.


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Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the mountain goats.


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And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. And David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.


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And David's men said to him, This is the day of which Jehovah has said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as is pleasing in your eyes. And David arose and secretly cut off the skirt of Saul's robe.


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And he said to his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the anointed of Jehovah, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of Jehovah.


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So David restrained his men with these words, and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul rose up from the cave and went on his way.


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David also rose up afterward, went out of the cave, and called out after Saul, saying, My lord the king! And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and prostrated himself.


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And David said to Saul: Why do you listen to the words of men who say, Behold David is seeking to hurt you?


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Behold, this day your eyes have seen that Jehovah has delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and some had intended to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Jehovah.


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Moreover, my father, look! Indeed, see the skirt of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and did not kill you, recognize and consider that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. And yet you are hunting my soul to take it.


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Jehovah judge between you and me, and Jehovah avenge me of you. But my hand shall not be against you.


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As the proverb of the ancients says, Wickedness proceeds from the wicked. But my hand shall not be against you.


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After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom are you pursuing? After a dead dog? After a flea?


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Therefore Jehovah is judge, and has judged between you and me, and shall see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.


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And so it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, Is this your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.


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And he said to David: You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.


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And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when Jehovah had delivered me into your hand, you have not killed me.


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For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away with good will? Therefore may Jehovah reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.


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And now, behold, I know that you shall reign to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.


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Therefore swear now to me by Jehovah that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father's house.


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And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his home at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.


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And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very great. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.


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The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings. And he was of the house of Caleb.


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David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and when you have come to Nabal, and asked after his welfare in my name,


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you shall say to him: Long life and peace to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have!


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Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we have not hurt them, nor has there been anything missing from them all the days they were in Carmel.


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Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a pleasant day. Please give whatever your hand finds to your servants and to your son David.


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And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.


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And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days breaking away each one from his master.


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Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?


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So David's young men turned around on their way, returned and came and reported to him all these words.


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And David said to his men, Every man gird on his sword. So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.


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Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David had sent messengers from the wilderness to bless our master; and he yelled at them.


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But the men were very good to us, and we have not been shamed, nor have we missed anything all the days we have traversed with them, when we were in the fields.


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They have been a wall to us both by night and day, all the days we were with them keeping the sheep.


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Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is a son of worthlessness, that no one can speak to him.


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Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already done, five measures of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.


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And she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.


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And so it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; and she met them.


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Now David had thought to himself, Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing has been missing of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good.


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God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave to him by morning light any of those who urinate against a wall.


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Now when Abigail saw David, she hastened to dismount from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and prostrated to the ground.


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And she fell at his feet and said: On me, my lord, on me be this iniquity! And please let your handmaid speak in your ears, and hear the words of your handmaid.


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Please, let not my lord set his heart on this man of worthlessness, Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.


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Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, since Jehovah has held you back from coming to blood and from delivering yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek evil upon my lord be as Nabal.


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And now this blessing which your handmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who travel on foot with my lord.


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Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid; for Jehovah will bring about to prepare an established house for my lord, because my lord is fighting the battles of Jehovah, and evil is not found in you all your days.


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If a man arises to pursue you and seek your soul, the soul of my lord shall be bound up in the bundle of life with Jehovah your God; and the souls of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling.


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And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel,


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that this will not be a matter of conscience, nor stumbling of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has delivered himself. But when Jehovah has dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid.


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And blessed is your discernment and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to blood and from delivering myself with my own hand.


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For indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely by morning light there would not have been left to Nabal any who urinate against a wall!


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So David received from her hand what she had brought to him, and said to her, Go up to your house in peace. Behold, I have heeded your voice and respected your face.


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And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was exceedingly drunk; therefore she did not tell him a word, little or much, until morning light.


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And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, and his wife had informed him of these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.


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And when David heard that Nabal had died, he said, Blessed is Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For Jehovah has returned the evil of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife.


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And when the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, David has sent us to you to take you to him for a wife.


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And she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, Behold, your handmaid, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.


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And Abigail hurried and rose up and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens going on foot; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.


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And Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.


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Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, before the desert?


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Then Saul rose up and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.


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And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.


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And David rose up and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. And Saul was lying within the entrenchment, with the people encamped all around him.


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Then David answered, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you.


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So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and behold Saul was lying down sleeping within the entrenchment, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people were lying all around him.


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Then Abishai said to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him with the spear, into the earth one time; and I will not strike him again.


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And David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the anointed of Jehovah, and be guiltless?


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David said furthermore, As Jehovah lives, Jehovah shall strike him, or his day shall come to have died, or he shall go out to battle and will have perished.


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Jehovah forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the anointed of Jehovah. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go.


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So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul's head, and they got away; and no man saw it or knew it or awoke. For they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.


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And David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off, with a great distance between them.


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And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Do you not answer, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who are you, calling out to the king?


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And David said to Abner, Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king.


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This thing that you have done is not good. As Jehovah lives, you are sons of death, because you have not guarded your master, the anointed of Jehovah. And now see where the king's spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head.


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And Saul recognized David's voice, and said, Is that your voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.


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And he said, Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand?


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Now therefore, please, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If Jehovah has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if it is the sons of men, may they be cursed before Jehovah, for they have driven me out this day from joining in the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods.


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So now, do not let my blood fall to the earth before the face of Jehovah. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.


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Then Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my soul was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have acted foolishly and erred exceedingly.


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And David answered and said, Here is the king's spear. Let one of the young men come over and get it.


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May Jehovah repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Jehovah has delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the anointed of Jehovah.


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And behold, as your soul has been magnified this day in my eyes, so let my soul be magnified in the eyes of Jehovah, and let Him deliver me out of all distress.


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Then Saul said to David, May you be blessed, my son David! You shall bring about to do, and shall prevail to accomplish. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.


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And David thought in his heart, Now I shall perish one day at the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should slip away to escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. Thus I shall escape out of his hand.


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And David arose and crossed over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.


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So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's widowed wife.


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And David said to Achish, If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the land, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?


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So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.


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And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from antiquity, as you come to Shur, as far as the land of Egypt.


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And whenever David struck the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing, and returned and came to Achish.


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And Achish would say, Did you not make a raid today? And David would say, Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of the Kenites.


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And David would save alive neither man nor woman, to come to Gath; thinking, Lest they should report on us, saying, Thus has David done. And this was his manner all the days he dwelt in the land of the Philistines.


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And Achish believed David, thinking, He has made himself odious to be abhorrent to his people Israel; therefore he will be my servant forever.


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Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, You recognize to understand that you shall go out with me to battle, you and your men.


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And David said to Achish, Surely you know what your servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore I shall make you guard over my head all the days.


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Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the fortunetellers out of the land.


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And the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa.


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And when Saul inquired of Jehovah, Jehovah did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.


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Then Saul said to his servants, Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.


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And Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, Please divine for me by necromancy, and bring up for me the one I shall say to you.


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And the woman said to him, Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and fortunetellers from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my soul, to cause me to die?


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And Saul swore to her by Jehovah, saying, As Jehovah lives, no punishment shall befall you for this thing.


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And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!


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And the king said to her, Do not be afraid. What have you seen? And the woman said to Saul, I have seen a god-like one ascending out of the earth.


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And he said to her, What is his appearance? And she said, An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed down with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.


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And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, either by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, to make known to me what I should do.


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And Jehovah has done for Himself as He has spoken by my hand. For Jehovah has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.


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Because you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah nor executed His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore Jehovah has done this thing to you this day.


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Moreover Jehovah will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. Jehovah will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.


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Then Saul quickly fell full length on the ground, and was greatly afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.


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And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was exceedingly terrified, and said to him, Behold, your handmaid has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you have spoken to me.


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Now therefore, please, also listen the voice of your handmaid, and let me set a piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.


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But he refused and said, I will not eat. So his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded their voice; and arose from the ground and sat on the bed.


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Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it.


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And she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up and went away that night.


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Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and Israel encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel.


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And the rulers of the Philistines were passing over by the hundreds and thousands. And David and his men were passing over at the rear with Achish.


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Then the commanders of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days and years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.


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But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him; so the commanders of the Philistines said to him, Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he make himself pleasing to his master, if not with the heads of these men?


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Is this not David, of whom they sang in dances, saying: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?


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Then Achish summoned David and said to him, Surely, as Jehovah lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my eyes. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless you are not pleasing in the eyes of the rulers.


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Therefore now, return and go in peace, that you may not do evil in the eyes of the rulers of the Philistines.


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And David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant as I have been before you to this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?


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And Achish answered and said to David, I know that you are as good in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.


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Now therefore, rise up early in the morning with your master's servants who have come with you. And as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, depart.


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So David and his men arose early in the morning to depart, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.


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Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had raided the south and Ziklag, struck Ziklag and burned it with fire,


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and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.


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So David and his men came into the city, and behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.


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Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep.


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And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widowed wife of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.


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And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people had become bitter, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.


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And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Please bring the ephod here to me. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.


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And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, Pursue, for you shall reach to overtake them, and rescue to recover all.


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So David went, he and the six hundred men with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind.


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But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who had become too exhausted to cross over the Brook Besor.


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And they found a man from Egypt in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water.


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And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his spirit revived; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights.


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And David said to him, To whom do you belong, and where are you from? And he said, I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick.


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We had raided the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory of Judah, and the southern area of Caleb; and we had burned Ziklag with fire.


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And David said to him, Can you bring me down to this troop? So he said, Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop.


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And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread out over the face of the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoils which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.


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And David struck them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.


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And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoils or anything which they had taken from them; David brought back all.


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And David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, This is David's spoils.


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And David came to the two hundred men who had become too exhausted to go after David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people with him. And when David came near the people, he asked after their welfare.


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Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoils that we have recovered, except for every man's wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.


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But David said, My brethren, you shall not do so with what Jehovah has given to us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us into our hand.


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For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share together.


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And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoils to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Here is a present for you from the spoils of the enemies of Jehovah;


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to those in Rachal, to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those in the cities of the Kenites,


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Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.


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And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.


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The battle was heavy against Saul; and the shooting of the archers found him, and he was writhing with exceeding pain from the shooting of the archers.


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And Saul said to his armorbearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it.


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And when the men of Israel on the other side of the valley, and those on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.


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So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.


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And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the house of their idols and among the people.


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And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.


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all the valiant men rose up and traveled all night, and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.


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Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David remained two days in Ziklag,


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that on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and earth on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.


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And David said to him, Where have you come from? So he said to him, I have escaped from the camp of Israel.


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And David said to him, How did the matter go? Please tell me. And he answered, The people have fled from the battle, many of the people have fallen and died, and Saul and Jonathan his son have died.


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And David said to the young man who told him, How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son have died?


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And the young man who told him said, As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning on his spear; and behold, the chariots and horsemen closely pursued him.


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He said to me again, Please stand over me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my soul still remains in me.


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So I stood over him and killed him, because I perceived that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.


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And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of Jehovah and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.


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Then David said to the young man who told him, Where are you from? And he answered, I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite.


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And David said to him, How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the anointed of Jehovah?


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And David summoned one of the young men and said, Go near, and fall upon him! And he struck him so that he died.


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And David said to him, Your blood is on your own head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have killed the anointed of Jehovah.


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and he commanded them to teach the sons of Judah the Song of the Bow; behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher:


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Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.


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O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, nor fields of offerings; for the shield of the mighty has been rejected as loathsome there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.


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From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan has not turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.


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Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they have not been separated. They have been swifter than eagles, they have been stronger than lions.


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O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.


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I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me; your love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women.


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It happened after this that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said to him, Go up. David said, Where shall I go up? And He said, To Hebron.


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So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widowed wife of Nabal the Carmelite.


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And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.


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And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they reported to David, saying, The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.


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So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, You are blessed of Jehovah, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him.


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And now may Jehovah show kindness and truth to you. I also will deal kindly with you, because you have done this thing.


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Now therefore, let your hands be strengthened, and be valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me as king over them.


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But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim;


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and he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.


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Ishbosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David.


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And the number of days that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.


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And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.


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And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool.


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And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise and make sport before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.


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So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin for Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.


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And each one grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called the Field of Swords, which is in Gibeon.


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And the battle was fierce that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were smitten before the servants of David.


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Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a gazelle in the field.


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And Asahel pursued after Abner, and in going he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from after Abner.


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And Abner said to him, Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take his spoils for yourself. But Asahel would not turn aside from after him.


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And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn aside from after me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then shall I lift up my face to your brother Joab?


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However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the back end of the spear, so that the spear came out his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still.


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Joab and Abishai also pursued after Abner. And the sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.


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And the sons of Benjamin gathered together after Abner and became one band, and took their stand on top of a hill.


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Then Abner called to Joab and said, Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to turn back from after their brethren?


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And Joab said, As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then by morning the people would have gone up, every one after his brother.


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So Joab blew a shofar; and all the people stood still and did not pursue after Israel anymore, nor did they fight anymore.


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And Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan, and went through Bithron, and came to Mahanaim.


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And Joab returned from pursuing after Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel.


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But the servants of David had struck down, of Benjamin and Abner's men, three hundred and sixty men who died.


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And they took up Asahel and buried him in his father's tomb, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak.


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Now there was long warfare between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.


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his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widowed wife of Nabal the Carmelite; the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur;


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Now it was so, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.


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And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?


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Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman?


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to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beer-sheba.


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And Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring around all Israel to you.


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And David said, Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I am asking of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.


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And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul's son, saying, Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.


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And her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her. And Abner said to him, Go, return. And he returned.


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And the words of Abner had come to the elders of Israel, saying, In time past you were desiring David as king over you.


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Now then, do it! For Jehovah has spoken of David, saying, By the hand of My servant David, I will save My people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines and out of the hand of all their enemies.


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And Abner also spoke in the ears of Benjamin. And Abner also went to speak in the ears of David at Hebron all that was good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of the house of Benjamin.


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So Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him.


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And Abner said to David, I will arise and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your soul desires. And David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.


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And behold the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoils with them. And Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.


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And when Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner has come to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace.


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Then Joab came to the king and said, What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has left to go?


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You realize that Abner the son of Ner has come to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.


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And when Joab had left David, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it.


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And when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother.


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And afterward, when David heard it, he said, My kingdom and I are guiltless before Jehovah forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.


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May it whirl about on the head of Joab and on all his father's house; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab one who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.


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So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.


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And David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, Tear your clothes, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner. And King David walked behind the coffin.


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And they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.


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Your hands were not bound nor your feet put into fetters; as a man falls before wicked men, so you have fallen. Then all the people wept over him again.


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And when all the people came to give David food to eat while it was still day, David swore, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down!


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And all the people took note of it, and it was good in their eyes, even as whatever the king had done was good in the eyes of all the people.


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For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been from the king, to kill Abner the son of Ner.


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And the king said to his servants, Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?


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And I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too severe for me. Jehovah shall repay the evildoer according to his evil.


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When Saul's son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his hands fell limp, and all Israel was dismayed.


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Now Saul's son had two men who were commanders of troops. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin. (For Beeroth also was part of Benjamin,


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And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.


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And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out and came at the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who was lying on his bed at noon.


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And when they had come there, into the middle of the house, as though carrying wheat, they stabbed him in the stomach. And Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.


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Now when they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him, beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the plain.


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And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who had sought your life. Jehovah has requited vengeance for my lord the king this day upon Saul and his seed.


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But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, As Jehovah lives, who has redeemed my soul from all distress,


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when someone told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took him and killed him in Ziklag; the reward I gave him for his news.


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How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth?


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And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, cut off their hands and feet, and hung them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.


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Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.


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Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one leading Israel out and bringing them in; and Jehovah said to you, You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.


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So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before Jehovah. And they anointed David king over Israel.


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In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.


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And the king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you, thinking, David cannot come in here.


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And David said on that day, Whoever climbs up by way of the water conduit let him strike down the Jebusites, the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul. Therefore they say, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.


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So David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the City of David. And David built all around from the fortifications and inward.


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And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and craftsmen and masons. And they built David a house.


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Thus David recognized that Jehovah had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His kingdom for His people Israel.


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And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron. Also more sons and daughters were born to David.


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And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,


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Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.


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And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand? And Jehovah said to David, Go up, for I will deliver up to give the Philistines into your hand.


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So David went to Baal Perazim, and David struck them there; and he said, Jehovah has broken through my enemies before me, like water bursting forth. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.


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And David inquired of Jehovah, and He said, You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the balsam trees.


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And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, that you shall be decisive. For then Jehovah shall have gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.


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And David did so, as Jehovah had commanded him; and he struck the Philistines from Geba until you come to Gezer.


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And David rose up and went, and all the people who were with him from Baale Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of Jehovah of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim.


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And they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart.


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They brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, with the ark of God; and Ahio was going before the ark.


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And David and all the house of Israel were making sport before Jehovah with all manner of fir wood; with harps, with lutes, with tambourines, with rattles and buzzing.


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And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah stretched out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen had fallen.


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And the anger of Jehovah burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.


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And David was furious because Jehovah had used violence and burst forth against Uzzah; thus the name of the place is called Perez Uzzah to this day.


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So David was not willing to remove the ark of Jehovah to himself into the City of David; but David turned it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.


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And the ark of Jehovah remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And Jehovah blessed Obed-Edom and all his house.


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And it was reported to King David, saying, Jehovah has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.


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And so it was, when those bearing the ark of Jehovah had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.


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So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of Jehovah with shouting and with the sound of the shofar.


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And as the ark of Jehovah was coming into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before Jehovah; and she despised him in her heart.


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And they brought the ark of Jehovah, and set it in its place in the midst of the tent that David had erected for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Jehovah.


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And when David finished offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah of Hosts.


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And he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a cake of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. And all the people departed, everyone to his house.


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Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the worthless fellows uncovers to reveal himself!


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And David said to Michal, It was before Jehovah, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of Jehovah, over Israel. Therefore I have danced before Jehovah.


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And I have been even more lightly esteemed than this, and humble in my own eyes. But as for the handmaids of whom you have spoken, by them I was honored.


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Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and Jehovah had given him rest from all his enemies all around,


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that the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is dwelling inside tent curtains.


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For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle.


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Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?


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Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: I have taken you from the pastures, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.


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And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.


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Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, without being disturbed; nor shall the sons of unrighteousness afflict them anymore, as before,


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since the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. And Jehovah has declared to you that He will make you a house.


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When your days are fulfilled and you have rested with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.


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I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the strokes of the sons of men.


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And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.


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Then King David went in and sat before Jehovah; and he said: Who am I, O Lord Jehovah? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?


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And yet this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord Jehovah; and You have also spoken of Your servant's house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord Jehovah?


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Because of Your Word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them.


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Therefore You have been magnified, O Lord Jehovah. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.


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And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God has gone to redeem as a people for Himself, to make a name for Himself; and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods?


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For You established Your people Israel unto Yourself as Your own people forever; and You, Jehovah, have become their God.


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Now, O Jehovah God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have spoken.


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And let Your name be magnified forever, saying, Jehovah of Hosts is the God over Israel. And let the house of Your servant David be established before You.


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For You, O Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, have disclosed this in Your servant's ear, saying, I will build you a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.


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And now, O Lord Jehovah, You are God, and Your Words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.


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Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lord Jehovah, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever.


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After this it came to pass that David struck the Philistines and subdued them. And David took control of the mother city from the hand of the Philistines.


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And he struck Moab, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one full line those to be kept alive. Thus the Moabites became David's servants, and brought tribute.


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David also struck Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his hand at the River Euphrates.


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And David captured seventeen hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. David also hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.


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And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of Syria.


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And David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David's servants, and brought tribute. And Jehovah gave victory to David wherever he went.


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And David took the shields of gold that had belonged to the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.


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then Toi sent Joram his son to King David, to ask after his peace and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi); and Joram brought in his hand articles of silver, articles of gold, and articles of bronze.


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King David also consecrated these to Jehovah, along with the silver and gold that he had consecrated from all the nations which he had subdued;


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from Syria, from Moab, from the children of Ammon, from the Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.


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And David made a name for himself when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Syrians in the Valley of Salt.


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He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And Jehovah gave victory to David wherever he went.


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Thus David reigned over all Israel; and David was executing justice and righteousness to all his people.


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Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief ministers.


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Then David said, Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?


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And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they summoned him to David, the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, At your service!


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And the king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God? And Ziba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.


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And the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.


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And when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold your servant!


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And David said to him, Do not fear, for I will bring about to deal with you in kindness because of Jonathan your father, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.


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And the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, I have given to your master's son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house.


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You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master's son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread at my table continually. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.


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And Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so shall your servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons.


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And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth.


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So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king's table. And he was lame in both his feet.


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It happened after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place.


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And David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.


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And the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, In your eyes, does David honor your father in sending comforters to you? Has David not sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?


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Therefore Hanun took David's servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away.


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And when they reported it to David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.


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And when the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, the sons of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of Maacah one thousand men, and from Ish-Tob twelve thousand men.


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And the sons of Ammon came out and set themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And the Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish-Tob, and Maachah were by themselves in the field.


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And when Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel's choicest and set them in battle array to meet the Syrians.


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And the rest of the people he put into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array to meet the sons of Ammon.


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Then he said, If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall deliver me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to deliver you.


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Be strong, and let us be courageous for our people and for the cities of our God. And may Jehovah do what is good in His eyes.


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So Joab and the people with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.


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And when the sons of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, and entered the city. So Joab returned from the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.


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And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the River, and they came to Helam. And Shobach the commander of Hadadezer's army went before them.


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And when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in battle array to meet David and fought with him.


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And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred in chariots and forty thousand horsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.


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And when all the kings who were servants to Hadadezer saw that they had been smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the sons of Ammon anymore.


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And it happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.


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And it happened at night time, that David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very pleasant in appearance.


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And David sent and inquired after the woman. And someone said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?


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And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. And when she was sanctified from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.


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And when Uriah came to him, David asked after Joab's welfare, and the people's welfare, and the progress of the war.


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And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and wash your feet. So Uriah departed from the king's house, and a portion of food from the king followed him.


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But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.


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So when they reported to David, saying, Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, Did you not come from a journey? Why have you not gone down to your house?


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And Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped on the face of the land. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.


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And David said to Uriah, Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you away. So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.


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And when David summoned him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.


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And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the strongest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.


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So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men.


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And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.


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and charged the messenger, saying, When you have finished speaking of the matters of the war to the king,


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if it happens that the king's wrath arises, and he says to you: Why did you approach so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?


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Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast a piece of millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall? then you shall say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite has died also.


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And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we were upon them as far as the entrance of the gate.


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And the archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king's servants died, and your servant Uriah the Hittite has also died.


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And David said to the messenger, Thus you shall say to Joab: Do not let this thing cause your eye to quiver, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen the battle against the city, and overthrow it. And encourage him.


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And when her mourning was passed, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done caused the eyes of Jehovah to quiver.


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And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.


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But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.


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And a traveler came to the rich man, who spared to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.


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And David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah lives, the man who has done this is a son of death!


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And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he has done this thing and because he had no pity.


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And Nathan said to David, You are the man! Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.


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I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you this and that!


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Why have you despised the Word of Jehovah, to do evil in His eyes? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.


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Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.


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Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the eyes of the sun.


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And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah also has put away your sin; you shall not die.


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However, because of this matter in which you have caused contempt, for Jehovah to be spurned by His enemies, the child also who is born to you shall die the death.


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And Nathan departed to his house. And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and it became sick.


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David therefore besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.


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And the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.


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And on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child had died. For they said, Behold, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child has died? He may do some harm!


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But when David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child had died. Therefore David said to his servants, Has the child died? And they said, He has died.


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So David rose up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of Jehovah and prostrated himself. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.


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Then his servants said to him, What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child had died, you arose and ate food.


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And he said, While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, Who knows whether Jehovah will be gracious to me, that the child may live?


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But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.


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And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. And she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now Jehovah loved him,


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and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah.


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And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and I have captured the city of waters.


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Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and lay siege against the city and take it, lest I capture the city and it be called after my name.


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And he took their king's crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David's head. Also he brought out the spoils of the city in great abundance.


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And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them under saws, iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over into the brick kiln. Thus he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.


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After this Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.


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Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin; and it was difficult in Amnon's eyes to do anything to her.


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But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother. Now Jonadab was a very shrewd man.


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And he said to him, Why are you, the king's son, so low morning after morning? Will you not tell me? Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.


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So Jonadab said to him, Lie down on your bed and make yourself sick. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food before my eyes, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.


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So Amnon lay down and made himself sick; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let Tamar my sister come and make a couple of cakes for me before my eyes, that I may eat from her hand.


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And David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, Now go to your brother Amnon's house, and prepare food for him.


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So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was lying down. Then she took flour and kneaded it, made cakes before his eyes, and baked the cakes.


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And she took the pan and poured them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have everyone go out from me. And they all went out from him.


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And Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the inner room, that I may eat from your hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them to Amnon her brother in the inner room.


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And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.


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And she answered him, No, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing should be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!


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And I, where could I take my shame? And as for you, you would be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.


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Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, Arise and go!


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And she said to him, For what reason? This evil to send me away is worse than the other that you have done to me. But he would not listen to her.


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Then he summoned his servant who attended him, and said, Send this woman out away from me, and bolt the door behind her.


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And she had on a tunic of many colors, for the king's virgin daughters wore such robes. And his servant brought her outside and bolted the door behind her.


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And Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her tunic of many colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head and went away, crying out as she went.


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And Absalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this thing to heart. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house.


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And Absalom spoke to his brother Amnon neither good nor bad. For Absalom hated Amnon, because he had humbled his sister Tamar.


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And it came to pass, after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim; and Absalom invited all the king's sons.


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And Absalom came to the king and said, Behold, your servant has sheepshearers; please, let the king and his servants go with your servant.


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But the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go now, lest we be a burden to you. And he pressed him, but he would not go, but blessed him.


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Then Absalom said, If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go with you?


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Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Watch now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, Strike Amnon! then kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant.


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And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. And all the king's sons arose, and each one got on his mule and fled.


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And it came to pass, while they were on the way, that news came to David, saying, Absalom has killed all the king's sons, and not one of them is left!


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So the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the ground, and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.


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Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, for only Amnon has died. For at the mouth of Absalom this has been determined since the day that he humbled his sister Tamar.


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Now therefore, let not my lord the king take this word to heart, to think that all the king's sons have died; for only Amnon has died.


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Then Absalom fled. And the young man who was keeping watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the way along the hillside behind him.


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And Jonadab said to the king, Look! The king's sons have come; according to your servant's word, so it is.


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So it was, as soon as he had finished speaking, that behold the king's sons came, and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also the king and all his servants wept with a very great weeping.


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But Absalom had fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.


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And King David longed to go to Absalom. For he had been comforted concerning Amnon, because he had died.


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And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman, and said to her, Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel; do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead.


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And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and prostrated herself, and said, Help, O king!


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And the king said to her, What is troubling you? And she answered, Truly I am a widow and my husband is dead.


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And your handmaid had two sons; and the two fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him.


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And now the whole family has risen up against your handmaid, and said, Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him for the soul of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also. Thus they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the face of the earth.


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And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, let the iniquity be on me and on my father's house, and the king and his throne be guiltless.


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And the king said, Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.


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And she said, Please let the king remember Jehovah your God, and do not permit the avenger of blood to destroy anymore, that they not destroy my son. And he said, As Jehovah lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.


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Then the woman said, Please, let your handmaid speak another word to my lord the king. And he said, Speak.


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And the woman said: Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? For the king speaks this thing as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring his banished one home again.


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For we die the death and are like water poured on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a soul; but has devised plans, so that His banished ones are not thrust away from Him.


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Now therefore, I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. And your handmaid thought, I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will carry out the word of his handmaid.


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For the king will hear and deliver his handmaid from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.


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And your handmaid thought, The word of my lord the king will now be comforting; for as the angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and evil. And Jehovah your God be with you.


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Then the king answered and said to the woman, Please do not hide from me anything that I am asking you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king speak.


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So the king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered and said, As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab has commanded me, and he has put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid.


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In order to change around the face of this matter your servant Joab has done this thing; but my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that is in the earth.


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And the king said to Joab, Behold, I have done this thing. Go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom.


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And Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself, and blessed the king. And Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, O king, in that the king has done the word of his servant.


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And the king said, Let him return to his own house, but he shall not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, but did not see the king's face.


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Now in all Israel there was no one as handsome as Absalom, and highly praised. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.


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And when he shaved his head (at the end of a year of days he shaved it because it was heavy on him; therefore he shaved it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king's weight stones.


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And to Absalom were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of beautiful appearance.


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Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him. And when he sent again the second time, he would not come.


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So he said to his servants, Behold, Joab's field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.


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Then Joab arose and came to Absalom's house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?


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And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come here, so that I may send you to the king, to say, Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still. Now therefore, let me see the king's face; but if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death.


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So Joab went to the king and reported to him. And when he had summoned Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.


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After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.


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And Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. And so it was, whenever anyone who had a dispute came to the king for judgment, that Absalom would call to him and say, What city are you from? And he would say, Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.


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Then Absalom would say to him, Behold, your case is good and right; but there is no one from the king to hear you.


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Moreover Absalom would say, Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has a dispute or case could come to me, and I would give him justice.


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And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he put out his hand and took him and kissed him.


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In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. Thus Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.


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And it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I have vowed unto Jehovah.


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For your servant has vowed a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, If Jehovah brings me back to Jerusalem, then I shall serve Jehovah.


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But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the shofar, then you shall say, Absalom is king in Hebron!


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And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything.


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And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased.


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And David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; or we shall not escape before Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.


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And the king's servants said to the king, We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.


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And the king went out with all his household at his feet. But the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house.


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And the king went out with all the people at his feet, and stopped at the last house of the settlement.


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And all his servants passed before him; and all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath, were passing on before the king.


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Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why are you also going with us? Return to your place and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile.


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You came only recently. Should I make you go here and there with us this day, since I am going wherever I can? Return, and take your brethren back. Mercy and truth be with you.


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And Ittai answered the king and said, As Jehovah lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.


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And David said to Ittai, Go, and cross over. Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over.


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And all the land was weeping with a loud voice, and all the people were crossing over. The king himself also crossed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness.


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And behold Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar went up until all the people had finished crossing over out of the city.


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And the king said to Zadok, Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Jehovah, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place.


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But if He says thus: I have not delighted in you, then behold, here am I, let Him do to me as is good in His eyes.


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The king also said to Zadok the priest, Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.


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And David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up; and he had his head covered and was going barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up.


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And someone reported to David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Jehovah, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!


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And it happened when David had come to the top of the mountain, where he bowed down before God, that behold Hushai the Archite was coming to meet him with his tunic torn and earth on his head.


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But if you return to the city, and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I was your father's servant previously, so I will now also be your servant, then you may frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel for me.


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And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? Therefore it will be that whatever you hear from the king's house, you shall report to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.


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Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son; and by their hands you shall send to me everything you hear.


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And when David was a little past the top of the mountain, behold Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of saddled donkeys, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.


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And the king said to Ziba, What do you mean by these? And Ziba said, The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who are faint in the wilderness to drink.


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And the king said, And where is your master's son? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he has said, Today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me.


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Then the king said to Ziba, Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours. And Ziba said, I prostrate before you, that I may find favor in your eyes, my lord, O king!


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And when King David came to Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came.


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And he pelted David and all the servants of King David with stones. And all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.


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Jehovah has returned upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and Jehovah has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son. So now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a man of blood!


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Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head!


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But the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because Jehovah has said to him, Curse David. Who then shall say, Why have you done so?


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And David said to Abishai and all his servants, See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life; so, why not this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for thus Jehovah has commanded him.


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It may be that Jehovah will look on my affliction, and that Jehovah will repay me with good for his cursing this day.


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And as David and his men went along the way, Shimei went along the hillside across from him and cursed as he went, pelted him with stones and kicked up dust.


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Meanwhile Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, had come to Jerusalem; and Ahithophel with him.


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And so it was, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, Long live the king! Long live the king!


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And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why have you not gone with your friend?


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And Hushai said to Absalom, No, but whom Jehovah and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I shall be, and with him I shall remain.


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Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve before his son? As I have served before your father, so shall I be before your face.


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And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you have become odious to your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.


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So they spread out a tent for Absalom on the housetop, and Absalom went in to his father's concubines before the eyes of all Israel.


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Now the counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the Word of God. So was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.


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Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I shall arise and pursue David tonight.


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I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king.


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Then I shall bring back all the people to you. When all return, except the man whom you seek, all the people shall be at peace.


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And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken according to these words. Shall we do as he says? If not, speak up.


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For, said Hushai, you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are bitter of soul, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.


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Behold now, he is hidden in some pit, or in some other place. And it will be, when some of them fall at first, that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.


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And even he who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will faint and melt away. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.


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Therefore I counsel that all Israel be assembled and gathered to you, from Dan to Beer-sheba, like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.


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Thus we shall come upon him in some place where he may be found, and we shall fall upon him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him and all the men who are with him there shall not be left so much as one.


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Moreover, if he has withdrawn into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city; and we shall pull it into the river, until there is not one pebble found there.


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So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For Jehovah had purposed to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Jehovah might bring calamity upon Absalom.


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And Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Thus and so has Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so I have counseled.


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Now therefore, send quickly and report to David, saying, Do not spend the night by the fords of the plains of the wilderness, but quickly cross over, that the king and all the people with him not be swallowed up.


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Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En Rogel, for they dared not be seen coming into the city; so a slave girl came and reported to them, and they went and reported to King David.


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Nevertheless a lad saw them, and reported to Absalom. But both of them went away quickly and came to a man's house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down into it.


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And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground grain on it; and the thing was not discovered.


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And when Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have crossed over the water brook. And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.


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Now it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well and went and reported to King David, and said to David, Arise and cross over the water quickly; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.


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So David and all the people with him arose and crossed over the Jordan. By morning light not one of them was left who had not crossed over the Jordan.


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And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not carried out, he saddled a donkey, and arose and went home to his house, to his city, put his house in order, and hanged himself, and died; and he was buried in his father's tomb.


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Then David went to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.


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And Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. This Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra, an Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.


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And it happened, when David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the children of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,


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brought beds and basins, earthen vessels and wheat, barley and flour, roasted grain and beans, lentils and roasted seeds,


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honey and curds, sheep and cheese of the herd, for David and the people who were with him to eat. For they said, The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.


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And David mustered the people who were with him, and appointed commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds over them.


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And David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, one third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I shall proceed to go out with you myself also.


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But the people answered, You shall not go out! For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us; for you are like ten thousand of us now. You are now more help to us in the city.


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And the king said to them, I will do what is good in your eyes. So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.


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And the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king charged the commanders concerning Absalom.


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The people of Israel were smitten there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand.


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And the battle was scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword had devoured.


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And Absalom was encountered before the servants of David. Absalom was riding on a mule, the mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between the heavens and earth; and the mule which was under him went on.


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And a certain man saw it and reported to Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!


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And Joab said to the man who reported to him, Behold, you have seen; and why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.


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And the man said to Joab, Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not put forth my hand against the king's son. For in our ears the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Take heed that no one touches the young man Absalom!


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Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own soul. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.


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And Joab said, I cannot wait before you. And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom's heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree.


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And Joab blew the shofar, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab had held back the people.


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And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the forest, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. And all Israel fled, everyone to his tent.


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Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King's Valley; for he thought, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom's Monument.


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Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, Let me run now and bear good news to the king, how Jehovah has avenged him of his enemies.


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And Joab said to him, You are not the man for tidings this day, but you shall bear good news another day. But today you shall not bear good news, because the king's son is dead.


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Then Joab said to Cushi, Go, tell the king what you have seen. So Cushi bowed himself to Joab and ran.


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And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, But whatever happens, please let me also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?


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But whatever the case, he said, Let me run. So he said to him, Run. And Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and outran Cushi.


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Now David was sitting between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate, to the wall, lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was running alone.


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And the watchman cried out and reported to the king. And the king said, If he is alone, there is news in his mouth. And he proceeded to come and drew near.


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Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, There is another man running alone! And the king said, He also brings news.


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And the watchman said, It looks like the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and comes with good news.


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And Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, Peace! And he bowed down with his face to the earth to the king, and said, Blessed is Jehovah your God, who has delivered up the men who had lifted up their hand against my lord the king!


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And king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about.


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And then Cushi came, and Cushi said, Good news, my lord the king! For Jehovah has avenged you this day of all those who were rising up against you.


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And the king said to Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against you to do harm, be like that young man!


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And the king was disquieted, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: O my son Absalom; my son, my son Absalom; O that I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!


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So the deliverance that day was turned into mourning for all the people. For the people heard it said that day, The king is grieved for his son.


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And the people stole back into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.


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And the king had covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!


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And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Today you have shamed the faces of all your servants who today have delivered your soul, the souls of your sons and daughters, the souls of your wives and the souls of your concubines,


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to love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you regard neither princes nor servants; for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, that it would have pleased you well.


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Now therefore, arise, go out and speak to the heart of your servants. For I swear by Jehovah, if you do not go out, not one will stay with you this night. And that will be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.


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And the king arose and sat in the gate. And they announced to all the people, saying, Behold, the king is sitting in the gate. So all the people came before the king. For everyone of Israel had fled to his tent.


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Now all the people were in a dispute throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king has rescued us out of the hand of our enemies, he has delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.


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But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now therefore, why are you being silent to bring back the king?


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So King David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the words of all Israel have come to the king, to his house?


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You are my brethren, you are my bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?


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And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of the army before me all the days, in place of Joab.


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And he inclined the hearts of all the men of Judah, as one man, so that they sent this word to the king: Return, you and all your servants!


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And the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah had come to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king across the Jordan.


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And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was from Bahurim, hastened and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.


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And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they had rushed over the Jordan before the king.


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And a ferryboat went across to carry over the king's household, and to do good in his eyes. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had crossed the Jordan.


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And he said to the king, Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, nor remember how your servant acted perversely on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should take it to heart.


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For I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I am the first to come today of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.


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But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the anointed of Jehovah?


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And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be adversaries to me today? Shall any man be put to death today in Israel? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?


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And Mephibosheth the son of Saul had come down to meet the king. And he had not attended to his feet, nor done his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace.


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And it came to pass, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?


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And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go to the king, because your servant is lame.


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And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is like the angel of God. Therefore do what is good in your eyes.


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For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet you set your servant among those who eat at your own table. Therefore what right have I still to cry out anymore to the king?


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And the king said to him, Why do you speak anymore of your matters? I have said, You and Ziba divide the land.


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And Mephibosheth said to the king, Even let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house.


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And Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim and went across the Jordan with the king, to send him across the Jordan.


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Now Barzillai was very old, eighty years old. And he had sustained the king while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.


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And the king said to Barzillai, Come across with me, and I will provide for you while you are with me in Jerusalem.


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But Barzillai said to the king, How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?


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I am today eighty years old. Can I discern between the good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any longer the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king?


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Your servant will go a little way across the Jordan with the king. And why should the king repay me with such a reward?


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Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your eyes.


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And the king answered, Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your eyes. And whatever you choose of me, I will do for you.


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And all the people went over the Jordan. And when the king had crossed over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own place.


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And the king passed on over to Gilgal, and Chimham passed along with him. And all the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel.


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And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, Why have our brethren, the men of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king, his household, and all David's men with him across the Jordan?


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So all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is next of kin to us. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we ever eaten at the king's expense? Or has he given us any gift?


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And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king; therefore we also have more in David than you. Why then have you despised us; were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king? Yet the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.


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And there met them there a man of worthlessness, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a shofar, and said: We have no part in David, nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!


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So every man of Israel withdrew from David, and followed after Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, stayed close to their king.


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And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in confinement and sustained them, but did not go in to them. Thus they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.


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And the king said to Amasa, Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days, and present yourself.


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So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed beyond the appointed time which David had designated.


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And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and be snatched away before our eyes.


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So Joab's men, with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, went out after him. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.


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When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. Now Joab was dressed in battle armor; on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips; and as he went forth, it fell out.


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Then Joab said to Amasa, Are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.


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But Amasa was not aware of the sword that was in Joab's hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.


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And one of Joab's men stood near Amasa, and said, Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David; follow after Joab!


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But Amasa was wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came upon him stopped.


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When he was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.


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And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maachah and all the Berites. So they were gathered together and also went after him.


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And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maachah; and they cast up a siege mound against the city, and it stood by the rampart. And all the people who were with Joab were destroying the wall to throw it down.


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Then a wise woman cried out from the city, Hear, Hear! Please say to Joab, Come nearby, that I may speak with you.


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When he had come near to her, the woman said, Are you Joab? He answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid. And he answered, I am listening.


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So she spoke, saying, They used to talk in former times, saying, They shall inquire to ask at Abel, and thus they would end the matter.


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I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of Jehovah?


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That is not so. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. So the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.


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And the woman in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. Then he blew a shofar, and they withdrew from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.


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And Joab was over all the army of Israel; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites;


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Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David besought the face of Jehovah. And Jehovah answered, It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he had killed the Gibeonites.


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So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites. The children of Israel had sworn peace to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.)


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Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of Jehovah?


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And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us. So he said, Whatever you say, I will do for you.


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And they answered the king, As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us, that we should be annihilated from remaining in any of the territories of Israel,


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let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them before Jehovah in Gibeah of Saul, whom Jehovah chose. And the king said, I will deliver them.


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But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath of Jehovah that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.


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So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she had borne to Saul; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;


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and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before Jehovah. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.


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Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the waters poured on them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the heavens to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.


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And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the town square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa.


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And he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.


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And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. Thus they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was entreated for the land.


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And the Philistines were at war again with Israel. And David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint.


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And Ishbi-Benob, who was of the sons of the giants, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze, who was bearing a new sword, intended to kill David.


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But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go out no more with us to battle, that you not quench the lamp of Israel.


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And it happened after this that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was of the sons of the giants.


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Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed one from Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.


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Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giants.


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These four were born to the giants in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.


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And David spoke to Jehovah the words of this song, on the day when Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.


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the God of my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence.


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in my distress I called upon Jehovah, and cried out to my God; and He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears.


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Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the heavens quaked and were shaken, because He was angry.


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And the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuke of Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.


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Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.


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Therefore Jehovah has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before His eyes.


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As for the Mighty God, His way is perfect; the Word of Jehovah is proven; He is a shield to all who seek refuge in Him.


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And I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I pulverized them like the mire of the streets, and I stamped them out.


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You also delivered me from the strivings of my people. You kept me as the head of the nations; a people I have not known serve me.


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He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those rising against me; You deliver me from the violent man.


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He is the tower of salvation to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, unto David and his seed forevermore.


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Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel:


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The God of Israel has said, the Rock of Israel has spoken to me: He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.


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And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.


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Although my house is not so with the Mighty God, yet He has made with me a perpetual covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For all my salvation and all my desire, will He not make it grow?


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But the sons of worthlessness shall all be as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with the hand.


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But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they shall be burned with fire to be burned in their place.


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These are the names of David's mighty men: Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the commanders. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he killed eight hundred men at one time.


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And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel retreated.


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He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. Jehovah brought about a great deliverance that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder.


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And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils, and the people had fled before the Philistines.


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But he took his stand in the middle of the plot, delivered it, and struck the Philistines. And Jehovah brought about a great deliverance.


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And three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the company of the Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.


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And David longed and said, Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!


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So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to Jehovah.


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And he said, Far be it from me, O Jehovah, that I should do this! Should I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their souls? Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.


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And Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three.


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Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their commander. However, he did not attain to the first three.


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Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two from Moab that were like lions. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.


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And he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear.


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He was more honored than the thirty, but he had not attained to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.


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Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin,


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Again the anger of Jehovah burned against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.


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So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.


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And Joab said to the king, Now may Jehovah your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?


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Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. Therefore Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to number the people of Israel.


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And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the valley of Gad, and toward Jazer.


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Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon;


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and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the south of Judah as far as Beer-sheba.


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So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.


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And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.


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And David's heart was smitten after he had numbered the people. So David said to Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Jehovah, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.


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And when David arose in the morning, the Word of Jehovah came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,


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Go and say to David, Thus says Jehovah: I am setting before you three things; choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.


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So Gad came to David and reported to him; and he said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now consider and see what word I shall take back to Him who sent me.


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And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.


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So Jehovah sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men of the people died.


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And when the Angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah was moved to compassion regarding the evil, and said to the Angel who was destroying the people, Enough! Now restrain your hand. And the Angel of Jehovah was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.


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Then David spoke to Jehovah when he saw the Angel who was striking the people, and said, Surely I have sinned, and I have committed iniquity; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father's house.


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And Gad came that day to David and said to him, Go up, build an altar unto Jehovah on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.


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And Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.


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And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar unto Jehovah, that the plague may be restrained from the people.


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And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever is good in his eyes. Behold, the oxen for the burnt offering, and the threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood.


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All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king. And Araunah said to the king, May Jehovah your God accept you.


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And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will buy to acquire it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah my God for free. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.


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And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was restrained from Israel.


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Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, for he could not get warm.


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Therefore his servants said to him, Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and serve him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.


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So they sought for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.


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The girl was very beautiful; and she served the king, and ministered to him; but the king did not know her.


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Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.


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(Now his father had not hurt him at any time by saying, Why have you done so? He was also very good in appearance. And his mother had borne him after Absalom.)


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And he spoke with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they went after Adonijah and helped him.


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But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.


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And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel; he also invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants.


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So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?


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Come now, please let me counsel you with advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.


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Depart and go to King David and say to him, Have you not sworn to your maidservant, my lord, O king, saying, Surely your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then has Adonijah become king?


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Then, while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.


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So Bathsheba came into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king.)


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And she said to him, My lord, you have sworn by Jehovah your God to your maidservant, saying, Surely Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.


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He has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but Solomon your servant he has not invited.


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And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.


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Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king lies down with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.


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And they reported to the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he came in before the king, he bowed down to the king with his face to the ground.


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And Nathan said, My lord, O king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?


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For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and behold, they are eating and drinking before him; and they said, Long live King Adonijah!


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But he has not invited me; me your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.


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Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king, and you have not declared to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?


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Then King David answered and said, Summon Bathsheba to me. So she came before the king and stood before the king.


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just as I have sworn to you by Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place, thus I shall do this day.


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And Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did homage to the king, and said, Let my lord King David live forever!


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And King David said, Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came in before the king.


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And the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.


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There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the shofar, and say, Long live King Solomon!


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And when you have come up after him, he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.


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And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen! Thus says Jehovah the God of my lord the king.


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As Jehovah has been with my lord the king, even so shall He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.


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So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.


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And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. And they blew the shofar, and all the people said, Long live King Solomon!


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And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth was rent with their sound.


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And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the shofar, he said, Why is the city in such a commotion?


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And while he was still speaking, behold Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest came in. And Adonijah said to him, Come in, for you are a mighty man, and bring good news.


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The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king's mule.


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And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is all stirred up. This is the sound that you have heard.


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And moreover the king's servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying, May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne. And the king bowed himself on the bed.


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Also the king has said, Blessed is Jehovah the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, with my eyes seeing it!


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And it was reported to Solomon, saying, Behold Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me this day that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.


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And Solomon said, If he is a son of worth, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if evil is found in him, he shall die.


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So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and prostrated himself to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, Go to your house.


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And keep the charge of Jehovah your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;


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that Jehovah may establish His word which He has spoken concerning me, saying, If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, He said, there shall not fail to be a man on the throne of Israel.


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Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on the belt around his waist, and on the sandals on his feet.


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But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those eating at your table, for they came to me when I fled before Absalom your brother.


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And behold, with you is Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with grievous cursing in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Jehovah, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.


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Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.


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The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.


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And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come in peace? And he said, In peace.


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And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their faces toward me, to reign. However, the kingdom has been turned around, and has become my brother's; for it was his from Jehovah.


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And he said, Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not turn away your face; that he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.


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Bathsheba therefore came to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king's mother; and she sat at his right hand.


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And she said, I am asking one small petition of you; do not turn away my face. And the king said to her, Ask it, my mother, for I will not turn away your face.


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And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, Now why are you asking for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother; for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.


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And King Solomon swore by Jehovah, saying, May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own soul!


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Now therefore, as Jehovah lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a house for me, as He has promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day!


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And to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are a man deserving of death; but I will not put you to death this day, because you have carried the ark of the Lord Jehovah before my father David, and because you were afflicted in every thing in which my father was afflicted.


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Thus Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest unto Jehovah, to fulfill the word of Jehovah which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.


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And the news came to Joab, for Joab had turned aside after Adonijah, though he had not turned aside after Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of Jehovah, and took hold of the horns of the altar.


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And it was reported to King Solomon, Joab has fled to the tent of Jehovah, and behold, he is by the altar. So Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.


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So Benaiah went to the tent of Jehovah, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come out! And he said, No, but I will die here. And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.


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And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him and bury him, that you may turn aside from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab has shed.


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Thus Jehovah shall return his blood upon his own head, who has fallen upon two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, without the knowledge of my father David: Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah.


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Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever. But upon David and his seed, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from Jehovah.


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So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.


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And the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.


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And the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere.


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For it shall be, on the day that you go out and have crossed over the Brook Kidron, consider to understand that you shall be executed to death; your blood shall be on your own head.


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And Shimei said to the king, The word is good. As my lord the king has spoken, thus your servant will do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.


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And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei fled to Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they reported to Shimei, saying, Behold, your slaves are at Gath!


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So Shimei rose up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.


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So the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make you swear by Jehovah, and warn you, saying, Consider to understand that on the day you go out and have gone anywhere, you shall be executed to death? And you said to me, The word I have heard is good.


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The king said moreover to Shimei, You know, as your heart acknowledges, all the evil that you did to my father David; therefore Jehovah shall return your evil upon your own head.


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But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Jehovah forever.


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So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and fell upon him, and he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.


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And Solomon made himself son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh's daughter; and he brought her into the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall all around Jerusalem.


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The people were sacrificing at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of Jehovah until those days.


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And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he was sacrificing and burning incense at the high places.


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And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.


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At Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask; what shall I give you?


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And Solomon said: You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son sitting on his throne, as it is this day.


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Now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.


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And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a people too numerous to be numbered or counted for multitude.


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Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?


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And God said to him: Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,


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behold, I have done according to your words; behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.


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And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.


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So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David has walked, then I will prolong your days.


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And Solomon awoke; and behold it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.


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And one woman said, O my lord, this woman and I are dwelling in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house.


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Then it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.


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So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.


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And when I arose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, behold, he was not my son whom I had borne.


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And the other woman said, No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son. And the first woman said, No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.


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And the king said, The one says, This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one; and the other says, No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.


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Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for her womb yearned for her son; and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and do not put him to death! But the other said, Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.


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So the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and do not put him to death; she is his mother.


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And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered, and they feared his presence; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.


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Azariah the son of Nathan, over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest and the king's friend;


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And Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year.


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Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam;


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Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged the region of Argob in Bashan; sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars;


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Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only deputy who was in the land.


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Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing.


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And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.


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ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.


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For he was ruling over all the region on this side of the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace on every side all around him.


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And Judah and Israel dwelt securely, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.


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And these deputies, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon's table. They left nothing lacking.


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They also brought barley and straw to the assigned places, for the horses and steeds, each man according to his charge.


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And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and breadth of heart like the sand on the seashore.


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For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.


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He also spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.


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And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.


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And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had loved David all his days.


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You know how my father David could not build a house unto the name of Jehovah his God because of the wars that were around him on every side, until Jehovah had put them under the soles of his feet.


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But now Jehovah my God has given me rest all around; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.


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And behold, I am intending to build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah has spoken to my father David, saying, Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house unto My name.


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Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.


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And so it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed is Jehovah this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!


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And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have agreed to the things which you have sent me, and I will do all your desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber.


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My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you direct me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire by giving food for my household.


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And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty kors of beaten oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.


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Thus Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made an alliance together.


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And King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men.


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And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the labor force.


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And Solomon had seventy thousand carrying burdens, and eighty thousand hewing stone in the mountains,


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besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies, who ruled the people who did the work.


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And the king commanded, and they quarried large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house.


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Thus Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Giblites cut and prepared timber and stones to build the house.


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And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.


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Now the house which King Solomon built for Jehovah, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.


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The porch in front of the sanctuary of the house was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of the porch extended ten cubits from the front of the house.


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Against the wall of the house he built chambers all around, against the walls of the house, all around the temple and the inner sanctuary. Thus he made chambers all around.


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The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the house, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the house.


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And the house, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or ax or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.


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The doorway for the middle level was on the right side of the house. They went up by a winding staircase to the middle level, and from the middle to the third.


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And he built chambers against the entire house, each five cubits high; they were attached to the house with cedar beams.


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Concerning this house which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments to walk in them, then I will establish My word with you, which I have spoken unto your father David.


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And he built the walls of the house on the inside with cedar boards; from the walls of the house to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with planks of cypress.


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And he built twenty-cubits at the rear of the house, from floor to the walls, with cedar boards; he built it inside for the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.


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And on the cedar inside the house were carvings of gourds and open flowers. All was of cedar; no stone was seen.


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And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the house, to set the ark of the covenant of Jehovah there.


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The faces of the inner sanctuary were twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. And he overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar with cedar.


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And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.


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The whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also he overlaid with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.


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One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the end of one wing to the end of the other.


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And he set the cherubim inside the inner house; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the house.


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And he carved all the walls of the house all around, inside and out, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.


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For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were one-fifth.


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The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he beat out the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.


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And the two doors were of cypress wood; two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door.


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And he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold smoothly fitted to the carved work.


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And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. Thus he was seven years in building it.


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He also built the house of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars.


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And he made a porch for the throne, the Porch of Judgment, where he judged; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.


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And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the porch, of similar workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this porch for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken as wife.


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All these were of costly stones cut to size, sawn with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the coping, and also on the outside to the great court.


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The great court was of three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the inner court of the house of Jehovah and the porch of the house.


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He was the son of a widow woman from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, engraving in bronze; he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to work in all workmanship in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work.


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And he cast two pillars of bronze, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a line of twelve cubits circled all the way around.


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And he made two capitals of cast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.


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He made a lattice network, with braids of chainwork, for the capitals on top of the pillars: seven for one capital and seven for the other capital.


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And he made the pillars, and two rows of pomegranates above the network all around to cover the capitals on top; and thus he did for the other capital.


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The capitals on the two pillars also had pomegranates above, by the belly which was next to the network; and there were two hundred such pomegranates in rows on the other capital all around.


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And he set up the pillars by the porch of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz.


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And he made the cast sea of ten cubits from brim to brim; it was round all around. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits made a circuit all the way around.


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Below its brim round about were gourds all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the sea. The gourds were cast in two rows when it was cast.


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It stood on twelve oxen: three turned toward the north, three turned toward the west, three turned toward the south, and three turned toward the east; the sea was set on top of them, and all their back parts were inward.


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Its thickness was a handbreadth; and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; and it could hold two thousand baths.


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And he made ten carts of bronze; four cubits the length of the one cart, and four cubits the breadth, and three cubits the height.


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And on the borders that were between the stays were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And a pedestal was on the stays above. And below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.


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And each cart had four wheels of bronze, and axles of bronze. And its four feet were supports to them; under the basin were cast supports with wreaths at each side.


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And its opening within and above the capital was a cubit; and its opening was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. And also on its opening were carvings; and their borders were square, not round.


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And the four wheels were under the borders. And the axles of the wheels were attached to the cart; and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.


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The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.


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And there were four supports at the four corners of each cart; its supports were part of the cart itself.


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On the top of the cart was a round compass a half cubit in height. And on the top of the cart, its stays and its supports were of the same casting.


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On the plates of its stays and on its borders he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around.


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And he made ten basins of bronze; each basin could hold forty baths, and each basin was four cubits. On each of the ten carts was a basin.


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And he put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.


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Hiram made the basins, the shovels and the bowls. Thus Hiram finished doing all the work that he did for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah:


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the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars;


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four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars);


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the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. All these articles which Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah were of burnished bronze.


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And Solomon did not weigh all the articles, because there were so very many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.


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Thus Solomon had all the articles made for the house of Jehovah: the altar of gold, and the table of gold on which was the Bread of the Presence;


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the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold;


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the basins, the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house (the Holy of Holies) and for the doors of the house of the temple.


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Thus all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of Jehovah was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had consecrated: the silver and the gold and the articles, and He put them in the treasuries of the house of Jehovah.


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Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, unto King Solomon at Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the City of David, which is Zion.


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Therefore all the men of Israel assembled unto King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.


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And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up.


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And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.


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And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.


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For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered over the ark and its poles.


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The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.


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Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses had put there at Horeb, when Jehovah had made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.


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And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah,


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such that the priests were not able to stand to minister before the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah.


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And the king turned his face around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.


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And he said: Blessed is Jehovah the God of Israel, who has spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying,


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Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, for My name to be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.


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Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel.


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But Jehovah said to my father David, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.


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Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come from your body, he shall build the house for My name.


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Thus Jehovah has fulfilled His word which He has spoken; and I have risen up in place of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah has promised; and I have built a house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel.


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And there I have fixed a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah which He had made with our fathers, when He brought them out from the land of Egypt.


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Then Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward the heavens;


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and he said: Jehovah the God of Israel, there is no god in the heavens above or on the earth below like You, who keeps Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.


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You have kept what You have promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.


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Therefore, Jehovah the God of Israel, now keep what You have promised Your servant David my father, saying, You shall not fail to have a man sitting before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me as you have walked before Me.


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And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father.


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But will God truly dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the Heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built!


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Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Jehovah my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today:


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that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place.


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And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in Heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.


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When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is required to take an oath, and has come to swear an oath before Your altar in this house,


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then hear in Heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, to condemn the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and to justify the righteous, giving him according to his righteousness.


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When Your people Israel are struck down before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this house,


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then hear in Heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to their fathers.


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When the heavens are restrained and there is no rain because they have sinned against You; when they have prayed toward this place and confessed Your name, and turned from their sin because You afflicted them,


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then hear in Heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain upon Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.


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When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land in their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;


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whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this house:


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then hear in Heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone have known the hearts of all the sons of men),


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that they may fear You all the days that they are alive on the face of the land which You have given to our fathers.


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Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a distant land on account of Your name


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(for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he has come and prayed toward this house,


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hear in Heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls upon You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.


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When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to Jehovah toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,


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When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You have become angry with them and delivered them to the enemy, and they have taken them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;


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yet when they have returned in their minds in the land where they have been carried captive, and have repented in their hearts, and made supplication to You in the land of those holding them captive, saying, We have sinned and done perversely, we have committed wickedness;


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and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name:


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then hear in Heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and attend to their cause,


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and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them


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(for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You have brought out of Egypt, out of the midst of the iron furnace),


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that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call unto You.


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For as You have spoken by the hand of Your servant Moses, You have separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.


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And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication unto Jehovah, that he arose before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to the heavens.


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Blessed is Jehovah, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He has spoken. There has not failed one word of all His good word, which He has spoken by the hand of His servant Moses.


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that He may incline our hearts unto Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He has commanded our fathers.


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And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before Jehovah, be near Jehovah our God day and night, that He may attend to the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, each matter from day to day,


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Let your heart therefore be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.


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And Solomon offered sacrifices of peace offerings, which he offered unto Jehovah, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.


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And for that day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of Jehovah; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Jehovah was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.


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And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven more days; fourteen days.


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On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that Jehovah had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.


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And it came to pass, when Solomon was finished building the house of Jehovah and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he had taken delight to do,


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And Jehovah said to him: I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there always; and My eyes and My heart will be there all the days.


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Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments,


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then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I have spoken to David your father, saying, You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.


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But if you or your sons go back to turn away from after Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and bow down to them,


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then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will send away from before My face; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.


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And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shall hiss, and say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?


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Then they will answer, Because they have forsaken Jehovah their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken up with other gods, and bowed down to them and served them; therefore Jehovah has brought all this evil upon them.


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And it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king's house


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(Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.


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And Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they were not pleasing to his eyes.


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So he said, What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul, to this day.


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And this is the reason for the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the house of Jehovah, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.


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(Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.)


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all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.


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All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel;


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that is, their sons who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely; from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day.


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But of the children of Israel Solomon made no slaves, because they were men of war and his servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen.


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Others were chiefs of the officers who were over Solomon's work: five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.


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When Pharaoh's daughter had come up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo.


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Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built unto Jehovah, and he burned incense on the altar that was before Jehovah. Thus he finished the house.


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King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.


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And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.


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And they came to Ophir, and carried away four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.


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Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Jehovah, she came to test him with hard questions.


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She came to Jerusalem with a very great company, with camels bearing spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was on her heart.


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And Solomon made known all her matters; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her.


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the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, it took her breath away.


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Then she said to the king: It was a true word which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.


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However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I have heard.


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Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!


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Blessed is Jehovah your God, who has delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because of Jehovah's eternal love for Israel, therefore He made you king, to execute justice and righteousness.


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And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.


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And the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought great quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir.


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And the king made pillars of the almug wood for the house of Jehovah and for the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers. There never again came such almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.


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And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given to her according to the hand of the king. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.


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besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the land.


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And King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.


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He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon.


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The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests.


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Twelve lions were standing there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.


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All King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.


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For the king had a fleet of ships at sea from Tarshish along with the fleet of Hiram; and once every three years the ships from Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.


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And all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his heart.


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Each man was bringing his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.


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And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.


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The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.


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Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Mikveh; the king's merchants got them at Mikveh for a price.


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Now a chariot that came up out from Egypt was six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and thus, by their hand, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.


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But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;


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from the nations of whom Jehovah had said to the children of Israel, You shall not go in to them, nor they to you. Truly they will thrust aside your hearts after their gods. These, Solomon clung to in love.


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And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives thrust away his heart.


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For so it was, when Solomon was old, that his wives thrust his heart aside after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of his father David.


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For Solomon departed after Ashtaroth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.


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Solomon did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and did not fully follow after Jehovah, like his father David.


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And Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.


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And Jehovah was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned aside from Jehovah the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,


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and had charged him concerning this thing, that he should not depart after other gods; but he had not kept what Jehovah had charged.


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Therefore Jehovah said to Solomon, Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have charged you, I will rend to tear the kingdom away from you, and have given it to your servant.


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Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I shall tear it out of the hand of your son.


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However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I shall give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.


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And Jehovah raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the seed of the king in Edom.


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For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom


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(because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom),


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that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him. Hadad was still a little child.


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And they rose up out of Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land.


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And Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes.


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And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.


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So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David had rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army had died, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to my own land.


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And Pharaoh said to him, But what have you lacked with me, that behold you are seeking to go to your own land? And he answered, Nothing, however send me away to let me go.


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And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah.


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So he gathered men to him and became leader over a band of raiders, when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus.


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He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the evil that Hadad did); and he loathed Israel, and reigned over Syria.


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And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Solomon's servant, an Ephrathite from Zereda, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, also lifted up his hand against the king.


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And this was the matter for which he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon had built the Millo and repaired the breaches to the City of David his father.


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And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, and made him overseer over the burden bearers of the house of Joseph.


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And it happened at that time, when Jeroboam had gone out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he was clothed with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field.


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And he said to Jeroboam, Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Behold, I am tearing the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and have given ten tribes to you


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(but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),


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because they have forsaken Me, and bowed down to Ashtaroth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and to keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.


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However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I have chosen because he has kept My commandments and My statutes.


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And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there.


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And I will take you, and you shall reign according to all your soul's desires, and you shall be king over Israel.


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And it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David has done, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I have built for David, and will give Israel to you.


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Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.


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Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the Acts of Solomon.


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And Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.


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So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from before King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt),


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that they sent and called for him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,


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Your father had made our yoke severe; now therefore, lighten the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he had put on us, and we will serve you.


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And King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, How do you counsel me to answer these people?


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And they spoke to him, saying, If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak agreeable words to them, then they will be your servants all your days.


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But he rejected the counsel which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who were standing before him.


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And he said to them, What counsel do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke which your father has put on us?


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And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus you shall speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us; thus you shall say to them: My little finger has become fatter than my father's loins!


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And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions!


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So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had spoken, saying, Come back to me the third day.


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and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions!


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Thus the king did not give heed to the people; for the turn of events was from Jehovah, to establish His word, which Jehovah had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.


