# verses

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After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?”


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And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment.” And Simeon went with him.


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And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek.


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At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.


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And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.


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


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The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, put it to the sword, and set the city on fire.


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Afterward the descendants of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the Shephelah.


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And Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron was Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.


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And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife.”


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Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife.


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When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, “ What do you want?”


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And she said to him, “Give me a gift; you have given me the land of the Negev, and give me also a spring of water.” And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring.


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The descendants of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the descendants of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev near Arad. And they went and settled with the people.


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And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah.


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And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.


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But the descendants of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.


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


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


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And the man went to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this is its name to this day.


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Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites were determined to live in this land.


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And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out.


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Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in their midst in Gezer.


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Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived in their midst and became subjected to forced labor.


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so the Asherites lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.


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Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.


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The Amorites pressed the descendants of Dan to the hill country, and they did not allow them to come down to the plain;


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the Amorites were determined to live in Har-heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy on them, and they became subjected to forced labor.


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And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.


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And as for you, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.’ But you did not listen to my voice. Why would you do such a thing?


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Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will become as thorns for you, and their gods will be a trap for you.”


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And Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites went each to their own inheritance to take possession of the land.


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And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel.


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They buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnah-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.


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Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel.


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They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors, who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from the gods of the people who were around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh.


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So the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer.


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Whenever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them to harm them, just as Yahweh warned, and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. And they were very distressed.


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But they did not listen to their leaders, but lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned away quickly from the way that their ancestors went, who had obeyed the commandment of Yahweh; they did not do as their ancestors.


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And when Yahweh raised leaders for them, Yahweh was with the leader, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the leader, for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors and oppressors.


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But when the leader died they relapsed and acted corruptly, more than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and bowing down to them. They would not give up their deeds or their stubborn ways.


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So the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and he said, “Because this people transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors, and have not obeyed my voice,


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in order to test Israel whether or not they would observe the way of Yahweh, to walk in it just as their ancestors did.”


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So Yahweh left those nations; he did not drive them out at once, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.


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These are the nations that Yahweh left, to test Israel by them ( that is, to test all those who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan,


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in order that the generations of Israel would know war, to teach those who had not experienced it before):


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the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath.


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They were left for testing Israel, to know whether they would keep the commands of Yahweh that he commanded their ancestors through the hand of Moses.


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And the Israelites lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.


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And they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.


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The Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They forgot Yahweh their God, and they served the Baals and the Asheroth.


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And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.


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The Israelites cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who delivered them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.


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And the spirit of Yahweh came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and Yahweh gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and he prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim.


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And again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.


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He gathered to himself the Ammonites and Amalekites, and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms.


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And the Israelites cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite and a left-handed man. And the Israelites sent a tribute to Eglon king of Moab through him.


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Ehud made for himself a short, two-edged sword (a cubit in length), and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh.


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But he turned back from the sculptured stones that were near Gilgal, and he said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he said, “Silence!” So all those standing in his presence went out,


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and Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool upper room. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he got up from his seat.


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Then Ehud reached with his left hand for the sword on his right thigh, and he thrust it into his stomach.


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And the handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not draw back the sword from his stomach; and it went protruding out the back.


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And Ehud went out the vestibule, and he closed the doors of the upper room and locked them behind him.


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After he left, his servants returned. When they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the cool inner room.”


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And they waited so long they became embarrassed because he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened the doors, and there their lord was lying on the ground dead.


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And when he arrived he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the hill country with him leading them.


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And he said to them, “Follow after me! Yahweh has given Moab your enemies into your hand.” So they went down after him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan toward Moab; and they did not allow anyone to cross over.


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And Shamgar son of Anath came after him, and he killed six hundred Philistines with the goad of an ox; he also delivered Israel.


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So Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, and he was living in Harosheth Haggoyim.


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And the Israelites cried to Yahweh, as he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years.


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And she used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites went up to her for judgment.


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She sent and called for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali and said to him, “Has not Yahweh the God of Israel commanded you? ‘Go, march to Mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men from the descendants of Naphtali and Zebulun.


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I will draw out Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and troops, to the wadi of Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’ ”


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She said, “Surely I will go with you; however, there will be no glory for you in the path you are taking, for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” And Deborah stood up and went with Barak to Kedesh.


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Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and they went up behind him, ten thousand men, and Deborah went up with him.


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And Heber the Kenite was separated from the other Kenites, that is, from the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And he was encamped at Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.


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Sisera summoned all his chariots—all nine hundred chariots of iron—and the entire army that was with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the wadi of Kishon.


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And Deborah said to Barak, “Get up! This is the day that Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand. Has Yahweh not gone out before you?” So Barak went out from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.


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And Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into confusion before the edge of Barak’s sword; and Sisera dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot.


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But Barak pursued after the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all of Sisera’s army fell to the edge of the sword; no one was left.


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Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.


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And Jael came out to meet Sisera, and she said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me and do not be afraid.” So he turned aside into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.


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


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And he said to her, “Stand at the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ You must answer, ‘No.’ ”


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But Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, took in her hand a tent peg and a hammer, and she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; he was fast asleep since he was exhausted, and he died.


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And behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him, and she said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he came with her and saw that Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple.


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And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder on Jabin king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.


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Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I will sing to Yahweh; I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.


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Yahweh, when you went down from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured down, the clouds poured down water.


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“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the caravans had ceased, the travelers, they kept to the byways.


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The warriors ceased; they failed to appear in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose; I arose as a mother in Israel.


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God chose new leaders, then war was at the gates; a small shield or a spear was not seen among forty thousand in Israel.


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My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, those offering themselves willingly among the people; bless Yahweh!


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The riders of white female donkeys, those sitting on saddle blankets, and those going on the way, talk about it!


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At the sound of those dividing the sheep among the watering places, there they will recount the righteous deeds of Yahweh, the righteous deeds for his warriors in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.


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“Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, sing a song! Get up, Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.


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Then the remnant went down to the nobles; the people of Yahweh went down for him against the mighty.


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From Ephraim is their root into Amalek, after you, Benjamin, with your family; from Makir the commanders went down, and from Zebulun those carrying the scepter of the military commander.


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And the chiefs in Issachar were with Deborah; and Issachar likewise was with Barak; into the valley he was sent to get him from behind. Among the clans of Reuben were great decisions of the heart.


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Why do you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the calling sounds of the herds? For the clans of Reuben, there were great searchings of the heart.


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Gilead has remained beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan dwell as a foreigner with ships? Asher sat at the coast of the waters, and by his coves he has been settling down.


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“The kings came, they fought; then the kings of Canaan fought; at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, they got no plunder in silver.


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The wadi torrent of Kishon swept them away, the raging wadi torrent, the wadi torrent of Kishon. March on, my soul, with strength!


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‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of Yahweh; ‘curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of Yahweh, to the help of Yahweh against the mighty.’


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


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She reached out her hand to the peg, and her right hand for the workman’s hammer; and she struck Sisera, crushed his head, and she shattered and pierced his temple.


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Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay. Between her feet he sank down, he fell; Where he sank down, there he fell— dead.


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“Through the window she looked down; the mother of Sisera cried out through the lattice, ‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming? Why do the hoof beats of his chariot tarry?’


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‘Are they not finding and dividing the plunder? A bedmate or two bedmates for every man; colorful garments for Sisera, plunder of colorful garments, beautifully finished colorful garments, on the neck of the plunderer?’


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So may all your enemies perish, O Yahweh, but those who love him are like the rising sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.


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The Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years.


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The hand of the Midianites prevailed over Israel; because of the presence of the Midianites, the Israelites made for themselves hiding places that were in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.


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And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east would come up against them.


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They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza; they left no produce in Israel, or sheep, ox, or donkey.


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For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it.


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Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites, and the Israelites cried out to Yahweh.


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Yahweh sent a prophet to the Israelites, and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you from the house of slavery.


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I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from before you; and I gave you their land.


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And I said to you, ‘I am Yahweh your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.’ But you have not listened to my voice.”


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The angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak that was at Ophrah that belonged to Jehoash the Abiezrite; and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.


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Gideon said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. If Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has forsaken us; he has given us into the palm of Midian.”


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And Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?”


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He said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”


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And Yahweh said to him, “But I will be with you, and you will defeat Midian as if they are one man.”


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And he said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, show me a sign that you are speaking with me.


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Please, do not depart from here until I come back to you and bring out my gift and set it out before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”


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And Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought them to him under the oak and presented them.


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The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock; pour the broth over it.” And he did so.


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Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went from his sight.


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And Gideon realized that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, “Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.”


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And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it “Yahweh is peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.


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Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, “Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;


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and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you will cut down.


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Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it during the day, he did it during night.


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When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that was beside it were cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.


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And they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” So they searched and inquired, and they said, “Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing.”


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And the men of the city said to Jehoash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it.”


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But Jehoash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself because his altar has been pulled down.”


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Thus, on that day he was called Jerub-Baal, which means, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had pulled down his altar.


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Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east gathered together and crossed the Jordan; and they camped in the valley of Jezreel.


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So the Spirit of Yahweh took possession of Gideon, and he blew on the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called to follow him.


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He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they were also called to follow him; and he sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.


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Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said,


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I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said.”


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And it was so. He arose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and he wrung out dew from the fleece, a full drinking bowl of water.


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And Gideon said to God, “ Do not let your anger burn against me; let me speak once more. Please let me test once more with the fleece; let the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground.”


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Then Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) rose early, and all the army that was with him. They were camped beside the spring of Harod; the camp of Midian was north of the hill of Moreh, in the valley.


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And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The troops that are with you are too many for me to give Midian into their hands; Israel will boast, saying, ‘My hand has delivered me.’


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So then, please proclaim in the hearing of the troops, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from the Mount of Gilead.’ ” About twenty-two thousand troops returned, and ten thousand remained.


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And Yahweh said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops; bring them down to the water, and I will sift through them for you there. For whomever I say to you, ‘This one will go with you,’ he will go with you; and for all whom I say to you, ‘This one will not go with you,’ he will not go.”


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So he brought down the troops to the water, and Yahweh said to Gideon, “You must separate everyone who laps up the water to drink with his tongue like a dog from those who kneel.”


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The number of those lapping up the water with their hand to their mouth was three hundred men; all the rest of the troops kneeled to drink the water.


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And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the three hundred men lapping up the water; I will give Midian into your hand, so let the other troops go, each to his own place.


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So they took their provisions and their trumpets into their hand, and he sent all the men of Israel, each one, to his tent; but three hundred of the men he kept; the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.


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And that night Yahweh said to him, “Get up; go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.


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and you will hear what they say; and afterward you will have courage, and you will go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men that were in the camp.


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Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east were lying in the valley, like a great multitude of locusts; their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand that is on the shore of the sea.


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When Gideon came, a man was recounting a dream to his friend, and he said, “Behold, I had a dream; a round loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came up to the tent, it struck it, and it fell and turned it upside down so that the tent fell.”


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His friend answered him and said, “This cannot be anything except the sword of Gideon son of Jehoash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and the entire camp into his hand.”


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When Gideon heard the recounting of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and returned to the camp of Israel; and he said, “Get up, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hand.”


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He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty jars in everyone’s hand, with torches inside the jars.


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And he said to them, “Watch me and do the same. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.


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When I and all who are with me blow on the trumpet, you must also blow on the trumpets and surround the camp, and you must say, ‘To Yahweh and to 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 night-watch, when they had just finished setting up the guards, and they blew on the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.


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When three companies blew on the trumpets and broke the jars, they held in their left hand the torches and in their right hand the trumpets for blowing, and they cried, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!”


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And each stood in his place all around the camp, and all the camp ran, and they cried out as they fled.


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When they blew the three hundred trumpets, Yahweh set the sword of each one against his neighbor throughout the whole camp, and the camp fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, up to Abel Meholah, the border by Tabbath.


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And the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, from Asher, and from all of Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.


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And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to oppose Midian, and capture from them the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan.” He called out all the men of Ephraim, and they captured the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan.


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And they captured the two commanders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they chased Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from beyond the Jordan.


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The men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they quarreled with him severely.


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And he said to them, “What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?


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God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” And their anger against him subsided when he said that.


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Then Gideon came to the Jordan, crossing it with the three hundred men who were with him, weary and pursuing.


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He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”


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The officials of Succoth said, “Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now, that we should give bread to your army?”


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Gideon said, “Well then, when Yahweh gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will trample your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness.”


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He went from there to Penuel, and he spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.


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Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men remained from the entire army of the people of the east; those that fell in battle were one hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen.


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And Gideon went up the route of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the army when it was off its guard.


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And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he routed the entire army.


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He captured a young man from Succoth and questioned him. The young man listed for him the commanders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.


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He came to the men of Succoth, and he said, “Here is Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘ Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now, that we should give food to your weary men?’ ”


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He took the elders of the city and the thorn bushes and briers of the wilderness, and he trampled the men of Succoth with them.


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And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What type were the men whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “ They were like you; each one of them had the appearance of the sons of the king.”


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He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had kept them alive I would not kill you.”


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And he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up, kill them.” But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a boy.


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Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up yourself, and strike us, for as is the man, so is his power.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.


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The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your sons, and your sons’ son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.


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But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you.”


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And Gideon said to them, “ Let me make a request of you, that each of you give to me an ornamental ring from his plunder.” (They had ornamental rings of gold, because they were Ishmaelites.)


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They said, “We will gladly give them,” and they spread out a garment, and everyone threw there an ornamental ring of his plunder.


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The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that were on the necks of their camels.


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Gideon made an ephod out of it, and he put it in his town in Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.


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And Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they did not again lift up their head, and the land rested for forty years in the days of Gideon.


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


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And it happened, as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites returned and prostituted themselves after the Baals, and they made for themselves Baal-Berith as god.


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The Israelites did not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hand of their enemies from all around,


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nor did they show favor to the house of Jerub-Baal ( that is, Gideon) in accordance with all the good that he did for Israel.


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And Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem, to the relatives of his mother, and he said to them and to the house of his mother’s father,


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“ Speak to the lords of Shechem, ‘What is better for you, that seventy men all from the sons of Jerub-Baal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?’ Remember that I am your bone and your flesh.”


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And his mother’s relatives spoke all these words concerning him to all the lords of Shechem; and they supported Abimelech, for they said, “He is our relative.”


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And they gave to him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them worthless and reckless men, and they followed him.


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And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerub-Baal survived, because he hid himself.


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All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near the oak of the pillar that is at Shechem.


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And they told Jotham, and he went up and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and he cried out loud and said to them, “Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.


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“The trees went certainly, to anoint a king over themselves. And they said to the olive tree, ‘Rule over us.’


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And the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, which by me gods and men are honored, to go sway over the trees?’


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But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my sweetness, and my good crop, to go sway over the trees?’


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But the vine said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my wine that makes the gods and men happy, to go sway over the trees?’


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And the thornbush said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me as king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; if not, may fire go out from the thornbush and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’


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“So then, if you have acted in good faith and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerub-Baal and his house, and have dealt with him according to his accomplishments —


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but today you have risen against the house of my father and killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, a king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your relative —


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if you have acted in good faith and sincerity with Jerub-Baal and his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.


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But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech and let it devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo; and let a fire come out from the lords of Shechem, and from Beth-Millo, and let it devour Abimelech.”


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And 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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so that the violence done to the seventy brothers of Abimelech would be avenged and their blood be placed on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, who helped to kill his brothers.


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And the lords of Shechem set for him ambushes on the top of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.


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And Gaal son of Ebel and his relatives came, and they crossed over into Shechem, and the lords of Shechem gave him confidence.


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They went out into the field and harvested their vineyards and trod them, and they held a festival. And they went into the temple of their god, and they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.


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Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal, and is not Zebul his chief officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem. Why should we serve him?


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If only this people were in my command ! Then I would remove Abimelech, and I would have said, ‘Increase your army and come out!’ ”


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and he sent messengers to Abimelech in Tormah, saying, “Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his relatives are coming to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.


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And in the morning at sunrise, get up and rush the city; and look, when he and the troops who are with him come out to you, you must act according to whatever opportunity offers itself.


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So Abimelech and all the army that was with him got up by night, and they lay in ambush against Shechem in four divisions.


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Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate, and Abimelech and the army that was with him got up from the ambush.


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When Gaal saw the army, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the top of the mountains!” And Zebul said to him, “ The shadows of the mountains look like people to you.”


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And Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, people are coming down from Tabbur-erez, and one division is coming from the direction of Elon-meonenim.”


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And Zebul said to him, “Where then is your boast, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the army that you rejected? Please, go out now and fight against them.”


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so he took the army and divided them into three divisions, and he laid an ambush in the field. And he saw the people were coming out from the city, and he arose against them and killed them.


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Then Abimelech and the divisions that were with him dashed out and stood at the entrance of the city gate, and the two divisions dashed out against all who were in the field, and they killed them.


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Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people that were in it; then he broke down the city and sowed it with salt.


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When all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard, they went to the vault of the temple of El-Berith.


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So Abimelech went up Mount Zalmon, he and all his army that were with him, and Abimelech took the ax in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and he lifted it and put it on his shoulder. And he said to the army that was with him, “What you have seen me do, quickly do also.”


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So the whole army cut down each one branch for himself and followed Abimelech, and they put them against the vault and set the vault ablaze with fire on those inside, so that all the men 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, women, and lords of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up to the roof of the tower.


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Abimelech came up to the tower and fought against it, and he came near the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.


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He called quickly to the young man carrying his weapons, and he said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they will not say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So the young man stabbed him, and he died.


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So God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech committed against his father by killing his seventy brothers.


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And God also repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell on them.


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After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah son of Dod, a man of Issachar, rose up to deliver Israel; and he was living at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.


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And he had thirty sons who would ride on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns that are in the land of Gilead that they called Havvoth Jair until this day.


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And again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines; they abandoned Yahweh and did not serve him.


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And the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and the Ammonites.


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They crushed and oppressed the Israelites in that year; for eighteen years they crushed all the Israelites who were beyond the Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.


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The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was very distressed.


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Then the Israelites cried out to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you; we have abandoned our God and served the Baals.”


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And Yahweh said to the Israelites, “ Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines?


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And when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from their hand.


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And the Israelites said to Yahweh, “We have sinned; do to us accordingly as you see fit; only please deliver us this day.”


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So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and he could no longer bear the misery of Israel.


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And the Ammonites were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the Israelites gathered and camped at Mizpah.


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The people, the ones commanding Gilead, said to each other, “Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He will be as head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”


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Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.


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Gilead’s wife also bore for him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up and drove Jephthah away, and they said to him, “You will not inherit the house of our father because you are the son of another woman.”


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So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers, and he lived in the land of Tob. And outlaws gathered around Jephthah and went with him.


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When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.


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And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, so that we may make war against the Ammonites.”


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Jephthah said to the elders, “Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?”


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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us to fight against the Ammonites and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”


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So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight against the Ammonites, and Yahweh gives them over to me, will I be your head?”


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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be a witness between us; we will act according to your word.”


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So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.


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And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What is between you and me that you have come to me to make war against my land?”


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And the king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel took my land from the Arnon up to the Jabbok and the Jordan when they came up from Egypt; so then, restore it peacefully.”


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and he said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,


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because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and went to Kadesh.


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Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us cross through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.


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Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond the Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because the Arnon was the border of Moab.


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Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us cross through your land to our country.’


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But Sihon did not trust Israel to cross through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and then encamped at Jahaz; and he made war with Israel.


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And Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; and Israel occupied all the land of the Amorites inhabiting that land.


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They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon up to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness up to the Jordan.


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So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, and you want to possess it?


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Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gave you to possess? Whoever Yahweh our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.


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So then, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he ever make war against them?


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When Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns that are along the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them at that time?


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I have not sinned against you; but you are the one who is doing wrong by making war against me. Let Yahweh judge today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”


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And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through to the Ammonites.


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And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, “If indeed you will give the Ammonites into my hand,


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whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it as a burnt offering.”


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And Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to make war against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand.


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And he defeated them with a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.


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Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She was his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.


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And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. I made an oath to Yahweh, and I cannot take it back.”


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She said to him, “My father, you made an oath to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the Ammonites.”


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And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions.


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And he said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains.


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At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her according to his vow; and she did not sleep with a man. And it became an annual custom in Israel


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for the daughters of Israel to go and lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for forty days of the year.


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The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over and make war against the Ammonites, and why did you not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house over you with fire.”


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And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were engaged in great conflict with the Ammonites; I called you, but you did not deliver me from their hand.


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I saw that you would not deliver us; I risked my own life, and I crossed over to the Ammonites, and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?”


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Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.”


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Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “ Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,”


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they said to him, “Please say Shibboleth,” and if he said, “Sibboleth”—because he could not pronounce it correctly—they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.


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


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He had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters away in marriage outside his clan and brought in from outside thirty young women for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.


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He had forty sons and thirty grandsons that rode on seventy male donkeys. He judged Israel for 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 hill country of the Amalekites.


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And again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.


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There was a certain man from Zorah, from the tribe of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; his wife was infertile and did not bear children.


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And an angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and he said to her, “Behold, you are infertile and have not borne children, but you will conceive and bear a son.


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because you will conceive and bear a son. No razor will touch his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth. And it is he who will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”


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And the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him from where he came, and he did not tell me his name.


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And he said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and bear a son, so then, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, for the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.’ ”


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Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh and said, “Excuse me, my Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent again come to us and teach us what we should do concerning the boy who will be born.”


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


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The woman quickly ran and told her husband, and she said to him, “Look! The man who came to me the other day appeared to me.”


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So Manoah got up and went after his wife, and he came to the man and said to him, “ Are you the man that spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.”


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And Manoah said to him, “Now when your words come true, what will be the boy’s manner of life and work?”


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She should not eat of anything that comes from the vine, or drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean; she should keep all that I commanded.”


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The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “If you keep me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh, you can offer it (for Manoah did not know that he was an angel of Yahweh).”


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And Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “What is your name so that when your words come true we may honor you?”


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And Manoah took the young goat and the grain offering, and he offered it to Yahweh on the rock, to the one who performs miracles. And Manoah and his wife were watching.


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And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife were watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground.


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The angel of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, and then Manoah knew that he was a messenger of Yahweh.


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But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh wanted to kill us he would not have taken from our hand the burnt offering and the grain offering, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us things such as these.”


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He went up and told his father and mother, and he said, “I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines; so then, take her for me as a wife.”


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But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a wife among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Take her for me because she pleases me.”


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His father and mother did not know that this was from Yahweh; he was seeking for an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling in Israel.


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And Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah, and suddenly a young lion came roaring to meet him.


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And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one might tear apart a male kid goat ( he was bare-handed ). But he did not tell his father and mother what he had done.


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And he returned after awhile to marry her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there was a swarm of wild honey bees in the body of the lion, and honey.


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He scraped it out into his hands, and he went on, eating it as he went. And he went to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the body of the lion.


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His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared there a feast, as young men were accustomed to doing this.


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And Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.


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But if you are unable to explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.” So they said to him, “Tell your riddle; let us hear it.”


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He said to them, “From the eater came out food, From the strong came out sweet.” But they were unable to explain the riddle for three days.


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When it was the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband and tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to rob us?”


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And Samson’s wife wept before him, and she said, “You must hate me; you do not love me. You told the riddle to my people, but you have not explained it to me.” He said to her, “I have not explained it to my father and mother. Why should I explain it to you?”


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She wept before him the seven days of their feast; and it happened, because she nagged him, on the seventh day he explained it to her, and she told the riddle to her people.


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The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? 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 Yahweh rushed on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men from them, and he took their belongings, and he gave festal garments to the ones that explained the riddle. He was angry, and he went up to his father’s house.


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After a while, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I want to go to my wife’s private room.” But her father would not allow him to enter.


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Her father said, “I really thought that you hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.”


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And Samson said to them, “This time, as far as the Philistines are concerned, when I do something evil I am without blame.”


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And Samson went and captured three hundred foxes, and he took torches. He turned them tail to tail, and he put one torch between two tails.


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He set fire to the torches and let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and he burned both the stacks of sheaves and the standing grain, up to the vineyards of olive groves.


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And the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” And the Philistines went up and burned her and her father with fire.


text:
Samson said to them, “If you want to behave like this, I swear I will not rest unless I have taken revenge on you.”


text:
And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “To bind Samson; to do to him just as he did to us.”


text:
Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and they said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are ruling over us? What is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “Just as they did to me, so I have done to them.”


text:
They said to him, “We have come down to bind you and give you over into the hand of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”


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They said to him, “No, we will only bind you and give you into their hand; we will certainly not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes, and they brought him up from the rock.


text:
As he came up to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has burned with fire, and his bindings melted from his hands.


text:
And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey; he reached down and took it and killed one thousand men with it.


text:
And Samson said, “With the jawbone of the donkey, heap upon heap; with the jawbone of the donkey, I struck dead one thousand men.”


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


text:
And he was very thirsty, and he called to Yahweh and said, “You gave this great victory into the hand of your servant, but now I must die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”


text:
So God split the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it; and he drank, and his spirit returned, and he was revived. Thus he called its name The Spring of Ha-Qore, which is at Lehi to this day.


text:
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here,” so they surrounded the place and lay in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night, saying, “ We will wait until the morning light, and then we will kill him.”


text:
But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.


text:
And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and said, “Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.


text:
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?”


text:
Samson said to her, “If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else.”


text:
So the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that were not dried up, and she tied him up with them.


text:
The ambush was sitting in wait for her in an inner room. And she said to him, “ The Philistines are upon you Samson!” And he snapped the bowstrings just as flax fiber snaps when it comes close to fire. And the secret of his strength remained unknown.


text:
Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you can be bound.”


text:
He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, I will become weak and be like everyone else.”


text:
So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and she said to him, “ The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” (The ambush was sitting in an inner room.) But he snapped them from his arms like thread.


text:
And Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told lies to me. Tell me how you can be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave seven locks of my head with warp-threads.”


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She fastened it with the pin and said to him, “ The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And Samson woke up from his sleep and tore loose the loom pin of the web and the warp-threads.


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And 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 you have not told me how your strength is so great.”


text:
And because she nagged him day after day with her words, and pestered him, his soul grew impatient to the point of death.


text:
So he confided everything to her, and he said to her, “A razor has never touched my head, for I am a Nazirite of God from birth. If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.


text:
Delilah realized that he had confided in her, so she sent and called the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up one more time, for he has confided in me.” And the rulers of the Philistines came up, and they brought the money with them.


text:
And she put him to sleep on her lap; then she called the men and shaved off seven locks of his head. Then she began to subdue him, and his strength went away from him.


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And she said to him, “ The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he woke up from his sleep and said, “I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free,” but he did not know that Yahweh had left him.


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And the Philistines seized him, gouged his eyes, and brought him to Gaza. They tied him up with bronze shackles, and he became a grinder in the prison.


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The rulers of the Philistines had gathered to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.”


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And the people saw him, and they praised their god, for they said, “Our god has given into our hand those who hate us, devastate our land, and have killed many of us.”


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After awhile, when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson and let him entertain us.” And they called Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars.


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Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, “Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house rests, so I can lean on them.”


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And the house was full of men and women, and all of the rulers of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching the performance of Samson.


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And Samson called to Yahweh and said, “My Lord Yahweh, remember me! Please give me strength this one time, O God, so that I can repay with one act of revenge to the Philistines for my eyes.”


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And Samson reached out and held two of the middle pillars on which the house was resting, and he leaned on them, one on his right and one on his left.


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And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And he pushed with all his strength, and the house fell on the rulers and all of the people who were with him. And the dead whom he killed in his death were more than those he killed in his life.


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His brothers and his whole family came down and picked him up; and they brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father; he judged Israel twenty years.


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And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, and about which you also pronounced a curse in my hearing, are with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by Yahweh.”


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He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother thought, “I will certainly consecrate to Yahweh the pieces of silver from my hand for my son to make an idol of cast metal; now then, I will return them to you.”


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When he returned the pieces of silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and she gave it to the smith, and he made it into an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah.


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The man Micah had for himself a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and he appointed one of his sons who became a priest for him.


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There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the clan of Judah; he was a Levite and was dwelling as a foreigner there.


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And the man went from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to live as a foreigner wherever he could find a place. And he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, to continue his journey.


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And Micah said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah; I am going to dwell as a foreigner wherever I can find a place.”


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And Micah said to him, “Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give to you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food.” So the Levite went with him.


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So Micah appointed the Levite, and the young man became a priest for him; and he was in the house of Micah.


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And Micah said, “Now I know Yahweh will make me prosperous, because the Levite has become my priest.”


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In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking territory for itself to live in, because until that day it had not been allotted territory among the tribes of Israel.


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The descendants of Dan sent from the whole number of their clan five capable men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go, explore the land.” And they went to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they spent the night there.


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While they were with the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place, and what is your business here?”


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And they said to him, “Please inquire of God that we may know whether our journey that we are going on will be successful.”


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And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. Yahweh is in front of you on the journey you want to go on.”


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And the five men went and came to Laish, and they observed the people who were living according to the customs of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, and lacking nothing in the land, and possessing restraint. And they were far from the Sidonians and had no word with anyone.


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They came to their relatives at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their relatives said to them, “What do you report?”


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And they said to them, “Come, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to possess the land.


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When you go you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land is spread out on all sides; God has given a place into your hands where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”


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Six hundred men from the clan of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war, set out from there.


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They went up and encamped at Kiriath Jearim in Judah. Therefore they called this place Camp of Dan to this day; it is west of Kiriath Jearim.


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And the five men that went out to spy out the land ( that is, Laish) responded and said to their relatives, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? So then, consider what you must do.”


text:
So they turned to that direction, and they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and they greeted him.


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And six hundred men from the descendants of Dan, armed with their weapons of war, were standing at the entrance of the gate.


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And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and they entered there and took the carved divine image, ephod, teraphim, and the molten image. The priest was standing at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with the weapons of war.


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When these went to Micah’s house, they took the divine carved image, ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, and the priest asked them, “What are you doing?”


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And they said to him, “Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be for us a father and a priest. Is it better being a priest for a house of one man or being a priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?”


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The priest accepted the offer, and he took the ephod, teraphim, and molten image and went along with the people.


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And they turned and went and put the little children, the livestock, and the valuable property in front of them.


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When they were at a distance from the house, Micah and the men who were in the houses that were near the house of Micah cried out, and they overtook the descendants of Dan.


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And they called to the descendants of Dan, who turned around to face them, and they said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you assembled together?”


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He said, “You took away my gods that I had made, and the priest, and then you go away. What is now left for me? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter?’ ”


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And the descendants of Dan said to him, “You should not let your voice be heard among us, so that ill-tempered men will not attack you, and take your life and the lives of your household.”


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And the descendants of Dan went their way. When Micah saw that they were stronger than him, he turned to return to his house.


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And they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and they came to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they put them to the sword and burned the city with fire.


text:
There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belonged to Beth-rehob, and they rebuilt the city and lived in it.


text:
And they called the name of the city Dan, after Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the former name of the city was Laish.


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And the descendants of Dan set up for themselves the carved divine image, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites until the time of the captivity of the land.


text:
So they set up for themselves the carved divine image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.


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In those days there was no king in Israel; there was a man, a Levite, who dwelled as a foreigner in the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim. And he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.


text:
But his concubine felt repugnance toward him, and she left him and went to her father’s house, to Bethlehem in Judah; she was there some four months.


text:
So her husband set out, and he went after her to speak tenderly to her, to bring her back. He took with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. And she brought him to her father’s house, and the father of the young woman saw him and was glad to meet him.


text:
His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, urged him to stay with him three days; and they ate and drank, and they spent the night there.


text:
On the fourth day, they rose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law, “ Refresh yourself with a bit of food, and afterward you may go.”


text:
So the two of them sat and ate and drank together, and the father of the young woman said to the man, “Please, agree to spend the night and enjoy yourself.”


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On the fifth day he rose early in the morning to go, and the father of the young woman said, “Please, enjoy yourself,” and they lingered until the day declined, and the two of them ate.


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And the man got up to go—he, his concubine, and his servant—but his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, “Please, the day has worn on to evening; please, spend the night, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. You can rise early tomorrow for your journey and go to your home.”


text:
But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.


text:
They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, “Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it.”


text:
But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, who are not from the Israelites; we will cross over up to Gibeah.”


text:
And he said to his servant, “Come, let us approach one of these places; we will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.”


text:
So they crossed over and went their way, and the sun went down on them beside Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.


text:
And they turned aside there to enter and to spend the night at Gibeah. And they went and sat in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night.


text:
Then behold, an old man was coming from his work from the field in the evening, and the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was dwelling as a foreigner in Gibeah. (The people of the place were descendants of Benjamin.)


text:
And the old man raised his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city, and he said, “Where are you going, and from where do you come?”


text:
And he said to him, “We are crossing over from Bethlehem in Judah up to the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but now I am going to Yahweh’s house, but no one took me in to spend the night.


text:
There is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, for your servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.”


text:
And the old man said, “Peace to you. I will take care of your needs; however, you must not spend the night in the open square.”


text:
While they were enjoying themselves, behold, the men of the city, the perverse lot, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we may have sex with him.”


text:
So the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this disgraceful thing.


text:
Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please, let me bring them out; do violence to them, and do to them whatever you please. Do not do this disgraceful thing to this man.”


text:
But the men were not willing to listen to him, and the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they had intercourse with her, and they abused her all night until the morning; they let her go at the approach of dawn.


text:
And the woman came as the morning appeared, and she fell at the entrance of the man’s house where her master was, until daylight.


text:
In the morning her master got up, and he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his journey, and behold, his concubine was falling at the entrance of the house, with her hand on the threshold.


text:
And he said to her, “Get up, let us go,” but there was no answer. So he put her on the donkey, and the man got up and went to his place.


text:
When he entered his house he took a knife, and he grasped his concubine and cut her into twelve pieces; and he sent her throughout the whole territory of Israel.


text:
All who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever been since the Israelites went up from the land of Egypt until this day. Take note of it, consider it, and speak up.”


text:
All the Israelites went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body to Yahweh at Mizpah.


text:
And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand sword-bearing infantry.


text:
(The descendants of Benjamin heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites said, “Tell us, how did this evil act occur?”


text:
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.


text:
The lords of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine, and she died.


text:
Then I grabbed my concubine and cut her into pieces, and I sent her throughout all the territory of Israel’s inheritance; for they committed a shameful and disgraceful thing in Israel.


text:
All the people got up as one body, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, or will any of us return to his house.


text:
We will take ten men of one hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and one thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions to the troops, to repay them when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin for all the disgraceful things they did in Israel.”


text:
Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that happened among you?


text:
So then, hand over the men, the perverse lot, who are in Gibeah, so that we may kill them and purge this wickedness from Israel.” But the descendants of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their relatives, the Israelites.


text:
And the descendants of Benjamin were gathered from the cities to Gibeah to go out for battle against the Israelites.


text:
From the cities the descendants of Benjamin were counted on that day twenty-six thousand sword-wielding men, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were counted seven hundred well-trained men.


text:
From all these troops were seven hundred well-trained men who were left-handed; each one could sling with a stone at a hair and not miss.


text:
And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted four hundred thousand sword-wielding men; all were warriors.


text:
Then the Israelites got up and went up to Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, “Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants of Benjamin?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go first.”


text:
Then the men of Israel marched out for the battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel took up positions against them for battle at Gibeah.


text:
The descendants of Benjamin went out from Gibeah, and they struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel to the ground.


text:
But the troops, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and again they arranged their battle lines in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day.


text:
The Israelites went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants of Benjamin, our relatives?” And Yahweh said, “Go up against them.”


text:
And Benjamin went out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and they struck down the Israelites again, eighteen thousand men to the ground; all of these were sword-wielding.


text:
And all the Israelites and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh.


text:
and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was standing before it to minister in those days), saying, “Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants of Benjamin our relatives, or should we stop?” And Yahweh said, “Go up tomorrow; I will give them into your hand.”


text:
And the Israelites went up against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, and they took up positions against Gibeah as before.


text:
The descendants of Benjamin went out to meet the troops, and they lured them away from the city and began to inflict casualties on the troops as before, on the main road, one of which goes up to Bethel, the other to Gibeah; and in the field there were about thirty men of Israel.


text:
And the descendants of Benjamin thought, “They are being defeated before us as previously,” and the Israelites said, “Let us flee and lure them away from the city to the main roads.”


text:
And all the men of Israel got up from their places and took up positions in Baal Tamar; and the ambush of Israel charged from their places, from the vicinity of Gibeah.


text:
Then ten thousand well-trained men from all Israel came out against Gibeah, and the battle became fierce; they did not know that disaster was about to close in on them.


text:
And Yahweh defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and the Israelites destroyed on that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them sword-wielding.


text:
The descendants of Benjamin saw that they were defeated, and the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they trusted the ambush that they had set against Gibeah.


text:
Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city.


text:
And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to inflict casualties on about thirty men of Israel because they thought, “They will be completely defeated before us as in the first battle.”


text:
And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up in smoke !


text:
And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed because they saw that disaster was closing in on them.


text:
And they retreated from before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle caught up to them, and those who came from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.


text:
They surrounded Benjamin; they pursued them without rest and trod them down opposite Gibeah to the east.


text:
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, but they cut down on the main roads five thousand men; and they pursued after them up to Gidom, and they struck down two thousand men.


text:
So all of Benjamin who fell on that day were twenty-five thousand sword-wielding men; all of these were able men.


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


text:
And the men of Israel returned to the descendants of Benjamin, and they put them to the edge of the sword, both the inhabitants of city and the animals that were found; they also set on fire all the cities that they found.


text:
The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”


text:
And the people of Bethel came and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted their voices and wept bitterly.


text:
And they said, “Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has it happened today in Israel that one tribe is lacking from Israel?”


text:
On the next day the people rose early, and they built there an altar and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.


text:
And the Israelites said, “Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?” For a solemn oath was taken concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, “He will certainly be put to death.”


text:
But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin, their relatives, and they said, “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel.


text:
What will we do for them—for the ones being left over—for wives? For we have sworn by Yahweh not to give to them our daughters as wives.”


text:
They asked, “Which one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?” And behold, no one came from Jabesh-gilead to the camp, to the assembly.


text:
And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men from the troops, and they commanded them, saying, “Go, strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, and the women and children.


text:
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not had sex with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.


text:
Then the congregation sent and spoke all this to the descendants of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and they assured them they would not be hurt.


text:
And Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave to them the women whom they kept alive from Jabesh-gilead; but they were not enough for them.


text:
So the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do for the remaining ones for wives, since the women from Benjamin have been destroyed?”


text:
And they said, “ There must be a remnant for Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.


text:
But we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” (For the Israelites swore, saying, “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.”)


text:
And they said, “Look, the annual feast of Yahweh is in Shiloh, which is to the north of Bethel, east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.


text:
and watch and look; when the daughters of Shiloh dance in the dances, come out from the vineyards and seize for yourselves a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.


text:
And if their fathers or their brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Allow us to have them, because we did not capture a wife for each man in the battle, and because you did not give them to them, or else you would have been guilty.’ ”


text:
The descendants of Benjamin did likewise, and they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they seized, and they went and returned to their territory, and they rebuilt the cities and they lived in them.


text:
So the Israelites dispersed from there at that time according to tribe and family; and they went out from there, each one to their own territory.


text:
And it happened in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem of Judah went to reside in the countryside of Moab—he and his wife and his two sons.


text:
And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the name s of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephraimites from Bethlehem in Judah. And they went to the countryside of Moab and remained there.


text:
And they took for themselves Moabite wives. The name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other was Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.


text:
But both Mahlon and Kilion died, and the woman was left without her two sons and without her husband.


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And she got up, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the countryside of Moab, because she had heard in the countryside of Moab that Yahweh had come to the aid of his people to give food to them.


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So she set 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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But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, each of you return to her mother’s house. May Yahweh show kindness to you just as you did with the dead and with me.


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May Yahweh grant that you find a resting place, each in the house of her husband.” And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice s and cried.


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And Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why do you still want to go with me? Are there sons in my womb that may be husbands for you?


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Turn back, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should think there is hope for me, even if I should have a husband this night, and even if I should bear sons,


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would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is far more bitter to me than to you. For the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me.”


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


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And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law too.”


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But Ruth said, “ Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you ! For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.


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Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. So may Yahweh do to me, and even more, unless death separates you and me !”


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So the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, all of the town was stirred because of them. And they said, “ Is this Naomi?”


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And she said to them, “You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai has caused me to be very bitter.


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I went away full, but Yahweh brought me back empty-handed! Why call me Naomi when Yahweh has testified against me and Shaddai has brought calamity upon me?”


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So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, returning from the countryside of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest of barley.


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Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a prominent rich man from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.


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And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after someone in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”


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So she went and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. And she happened by chance upon the tract of field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.


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And look, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “ May Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “ May Yahweh bless you.”


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And the servant in charge of the reapers said, “She is a Moabite girl returning with Naomi from the countryside of Moab.


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And she said, ‘Please let me glean and let me gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came and remained from the morning up to now. She is sitting for a little while in the house.”


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And Boaz said to Ruth, “ Listen carefully, my daughter, go no longer to glean in another field. Moreover, do not leave from this one, but stay close with my young women.


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Keep your eyes on the field that they reap and go after them. Have I not ordered the servants not to bother you? And if you get thirsty, you shall go to the containers and drink from where the servants have drawn.”


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And she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes by recognizing me—for I am a foreigner?”


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And Boaz answered and said to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband was fully told to me. How you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know before.


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May Yahweh reward your work and may a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you came to take refuge.”


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And she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your servant, and I am not one of your servants.”


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And Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here and eat from the bread and dip your morsel in the wine vinegar.” So she sat beside the gleaners, and he offered to her roasted grain. And she ate and was satisfied, and she had some left over.


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And she got up to glean, and Boaz instructed his servants saying, “Let her also glean between the sheaves and do not reproach her.


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And also pull out for her from your bundles and leave it so that she may glean—and do not rebuke her.”


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


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And she picked it up and went to the town. Her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. And she took it out and gave to her what she had left over after being satisfied.


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And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man who I worked with today is Boaz.”


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And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “ May he be blessed by Yahweh, whose loyal love has not forsaken the living or the dead.” And Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative for us, he is one of our redeemers.”


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And Ruth the Moabite said, “Also, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close with the servants which are mine until they have finished all of the harvest which is mine.’ ”


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And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “ It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidservants so that you will not be bothered in another field.”


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So she stayed close with the maidservants of Boaz to glean until the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.


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Now Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek for you security that things may be good for you?


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So then, is not Boaz our kinsman whose maidservants you were with? Look, he is winnowing the barley at the threshing floor tonight.


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Wash, anoint yourself, put your clothing on, and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man until he finishes eating and drinking.


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And when he lies, take notice of the place where he lies. And you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he shall tell you what to do.”


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And Boaz ate and drank until his heart was merry and then he came to lie at the end of the grain heap. And she came in quietly and uncovered his feet and lay down.


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And it happened in the middle of the night the man was startled and he reached out and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.


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And he said, “Who are you?” And she said, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your garment over your servant because you are a redeemer.”


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And he said, “You are blessed by Yahweh my daughter. You did better in this last kindness than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.


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And so then my daughter, do not be afraid. All that you ask I will do for you, for the entire assembly of my people knows that you are a worthy woman.


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Stay tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good; but if he is not willing to redeem, then as Yahweh lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”


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So she lay at his feet until morning and got up before anyone could recognize each other. And he said, “It must not be known that you came to the threshing floor.”


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And he said, “Bring the cloak that is on you and hold it out.” And she held it out and he measured six measures of barley and put it on her cloak. Then she went into the city.


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And she came to her mother-in-law, and she said, “ How did it go for you, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man did for her.


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And she said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘You shall not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ”


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And she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”


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And Boaz had gone up to the city gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken was passing by. And he said, “Come over here to sit, friend.” And he came over and sat.


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And he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who returned from the countryside of Moab, is selling the tract of land which was for our brother Elimelech.


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And I thought I would tell you and say, ‘ Buy it in the presence of those sitting and before the elders of my people,’ if you want to redeem it, redeem it. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem it, and I am after you.” And he said, “I want to redeem it.”


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And Boaz said, “On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead man, in order to raise up for the name of the dead his inheritance.”


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And the redeemer said, “I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem it.”


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(Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave it to his fellow countryman. This was the manner of attesting in Israel.)


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And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired all that was for Elimelech and that was for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.


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And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his birth place. You are witnesses today.”


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And all of the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “ We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem.


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And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah from the offspring that Yahweh will give to you from this young woman.”


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So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son.


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And the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh who today did not leave you without a redeemer ! And may his name be renowned in Israel!


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He shall be for you a restorer of life and a sustainer in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better for you than seven sons, has borne him.”


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And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.


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There was a certain man from Ramathaim Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.


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He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah, and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.


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Now this man used to go up from his town year by year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of hosts in Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to Yahweh.


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On the day Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.


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But to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, though Yahweh had closed her womb.


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(Now her rival wife would provoke her severely in order to upset her because Yahweh had closed her womb.)


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And so he used to do year after year; whenever she went up to the house of Yahweh, she would provoke her so that she would weep and would not eat.


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So Elkanah her husband would say to her: “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat? And why are you heartsick? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”


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Then Hannah got up after eating and drinking at Shiloh. (Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the temple of Yahweh.)


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She made a vow and said: “O Yahweh of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the misery of your female servant, and will remember me, and not forget your female servant, and will give to your female servant a male child then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor will never pass over his head.”


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Now Hannah had been speaking in her heart; her lips were moving, but her voice could not be heard, so Eli considered her to be drunk.


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But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord. I am a woman deeply distressed, but I have not drunk wine or strong drink. Rather, I have poured out my soul before Yahweh.


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Do not regard your female servant as worthless, but because of the extent of my worries and my provocation I have spoken all of this.”


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Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of him.”


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And she said, “May your female slave find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went on her way and ate something, and her face did not look sad any longer.


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Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before Yahweh and returned to their house at Ramah. Then Elkanah had sexual relations with Hannah his wife, and Yahweh remembered her.


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In due time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She called his name Samuel, for she said, “I requested him from Yahweh.”


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So the man Elkanah went up with all his household to make the annual sacrifice to Yahweh and to pay his vow.


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But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear before Yahweh; and he will remain there forever.”


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So her husband Elkanah said to her, “ Do what seems right to you; stay until you wean him. Only may Yahweh fulfill his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.


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Then she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, along with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of Yahweh at Shiloh while the boy was still young.


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She said, “Excuse me, my lord. As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood with you in this place to pray to Yahweh.


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I in turn have lent him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is lent to Yahweh.” Then they worshiped Yahweh there.


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Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength is exalted in Yahweh; I grin over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.


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There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, and there is no rock like our God.


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Do not increase speaking very proud words! Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge whose deeds are not weighed.


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Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry will become fat. As for the infertile, she will bear seven, but she who has many sons withers away.


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He raises up the poor from the dust. From the ash heap he lifts up the needy, to cause them to sit with noble people and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh and he has set the inhabited world on them.


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He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked will be destroyed in the darkness, because a man will not prevail by his might.


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Yahweh will shatter his adversaries; he will thunder against them in the heavens. Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and will exalt the might of his anointed one.


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Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli the priest.


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And the custom of the priests with the people was this: When any man brought a sacrifice, as the meat was boiling, the servant of the priest would take a three-pronged meat fork in his hand


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and would thrust it into the pan or into the kettle or into the cauldron or into the cooking pot. All that the meat fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all of the Israelites who came there at Shiloh.


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Also, before they offered up the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only raw.”


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And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat completely first, then take for yourself as you desire,” then he would say to him, “No! Give it now! If not, I will take it by force!”


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So the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh, because the men treated the offering of Yahweh with contempt.


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His mother used to make for him a small robe and take it to him year by year whenever she came up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.


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And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and he said, “May Yahweh give you an offspring from this woman in place of the petitioned one that she requested from Yahweh.” Then they went to their home.


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Yahweh took note of Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters, while the young man Samuel grew up with Yahweh.


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Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were having sexual relations with the women who were serving at the entrance of the tent of assembly.


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And he asked them, “Why are you doing all these things that I am hearing, namely, your evil dealings with all these people?


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If a man sins against a man, then God can intercede for him. But if a man sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?” But they did not obey their father, because Yahweh wanted to kill them.


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Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh?


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And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor all the offerings made by fire by the Israelites.


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Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel?


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Therefore,’ declares Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor would walk before me forever, but now,’ declares Yahweh, ‘far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt!


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Look, days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of the house of your ancestor so that no one in your house will live to old age.


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You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, despite all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old man in your household forever !


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The only one I will not cut off from my altar is you. Rather, to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, all the members of your household will die as men.


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This is the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day!


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But I will raise up for myself a reliable priest; he will do just according to what is in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting house and he will walk continually before my anointed one forever.


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All the remainder of your household will come to bow down before him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, “Please assign me to one of the priestly offices so that I can eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”


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Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.


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And then one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak so that he was not able to see)


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


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And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” But he said, “I did not call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.


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And Yahweh called Samuel again, so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”


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Again Yahweh called Samuel a third time, so he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy.


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So Eli said to Samuel “Go lie down. If he calls to you, then you must say, ‘Speak Yahweh, because your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.


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Then Yahweh came and stood there and called out as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.”


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So Yahweh said to Samuel, “Look, I am doing something in Israel which will cause the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle.


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On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, from beginning to end.


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I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons were bringing curses on themselves, but he did not rebuke them.


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Therefore I swore to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned for by sacrifice or by offering forever.”


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So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli.


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And he said, “What is the message that he spoke to you? Please do not conceal it from me. May God punish you severely if you conceal anything from me of all the words that he told you.”


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So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal anything from him. And he said, “He is Yahweh, he will do what is good in his sight.”


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And Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him. He did not allow any of his prophecies to go unfulfilled.


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And Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh, for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh.


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And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.


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The Philistines lined up for the battle to meet Israel, and the battle was prolonged until Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.


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When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to us from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and deliver us from the hand of our enemies.”


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So the army sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of hosts who sits 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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Now when the ark of the covenant of Yahweh arrived at the camp, all Israel let out a loud shout so that the earth shook.


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When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What is the noise of this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they learned that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp.


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So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come to the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us, for this has never happened before!


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Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the same gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert.


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Take courage and be men, you Philistines, lest you end up serving the Hebrews just like they have served you. Be men and fight!”


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So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and each man fled to his tent, for the slaughter was very great. Thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell.


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A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day, and his clothes were torn and earth was on his head.


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When he came, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road watching, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. Now the man had come to give his report in the city, and all the city cried out.


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When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What is the noise of this commotion?” Then the man came quickly and told Eli.


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And the man said to Eli, “I am the one who has come from the battle line! I have fled today from the battle line!” And he said, “ What exactly happened, my son?”


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Then the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines. There has been a great defeat among the troops. Also, your two sons have died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God has been captured.”


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Just as he mentioned the ark of God, he fell from his chair backwards against the side of the gate. He broke his neck and died, because the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.


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Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news concerning the capture of the ark of God and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she went into labor and gave birth, because her labor pains came upon her.


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Just before the time of her death, those attending her said, “Do not fear, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer, or pay any attention.


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She called the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and concerning her father-in-law and husband.


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Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon.


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When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, there was Dagon fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.


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When they got up early in the morning the next day, there was Dagon fallen again with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! The head of Dagon and the palms of his two hands were cut off, lying at the threshold; only the body of Dagon was left.


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(Therefore the priests of Dagon and all who come into the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod until this very day.)


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Now the hand of Yahweh was heavy against the Ashdodites and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, both in Ashdod and its territories.


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The men of Ashdod saw that it was so, and they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, because his hand is harsh on us and on Dagon our god!”


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So they sent and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines to them, and they asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around toward Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath.


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After they moved it, the hand of Yahweh was against the city, causing a very great confusion, and he struck the men of the city from the youngest to the oldest, causing tumors to break out on them.


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So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought around the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people!”


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So they sent and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines, and they said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people.” For a deadly confusion was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.


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The men who did not die were struck with the tumors, so that the cry of the city for help went up to heaven.


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and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.”


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They said, “If you are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand is not turned aside from you.”


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And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” They said, “The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumors and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers.


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You must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that are ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land.


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Why should you harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Is it not just like when he dealt with them wantonly so that they sent them away and they left?


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So then, prepare one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them, and you must harness the cows to the utility cart and then turn their calves from following them to their stall.


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And you must take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the utility cart with the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering. You must place them in the container beside the ark and then send it off so that it goes away.


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You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to come on us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it was by chance that this happened to us.


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So the men did so; they took two milking cows and harnessed them to the utility cart, but they shut up their calves in the stall.


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Then they put the ark of Yahweh on the utility cart with the container holding the gold mice and the images of their tumors.


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The cows went straight on the way on the road to Beth Shemesh, on the one main road, lowing as they went. They did not turn aside to the right or to the left, and the rulers of the Philistines were walking after them up to the border of Beth Shemesh.


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Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley. They lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and they were glad to see it.


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The utility cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there where there was a large stone. They split the wood of the utility cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh.


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Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container that was beside it, in which were the gold objects, and they set them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they made sacrifices to Yahweh on that day.


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Now these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron.


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And the gold mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, for their five rulers, from the fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, where they set the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.


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He struck seventy men among the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of Yahweh. So the people mourned because Yahweh had struck a great blow among the people.


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Then the men of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom shall it go up from us?”


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So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim saying, “ The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to yourselves.”


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The men of Kiriath Jearim came and brought up the ark of Yahweh, and they brought it to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah. They consecrated Eleazer his son to guard the ark of Yahweh.


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From the day the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, days multiplied and became twenty years while all the house of Israel mourned after Yahweh.


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And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If with all your heart you are turning to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from your midst. Commit your hearts to Yahweh and serve him alone. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”


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So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against Yahweh!” So Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.


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


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Then the Israelites said to Samuel, “ You must not cease from crying out to Yahweh our God, so that he will deliver us from the hand of the Philistines.”


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So Samuel took a single nursing lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. Then Samuel cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him.


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While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against the Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel.


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Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car.


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So Samuel took a single stone and put it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, “Up to here Yahweh has helped us.”


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


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The towns which the Philistines had taken from Israel were returned to Israel from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of the Philistines. Then there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.


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He used to go on the circuit from year to year. He went around Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.


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Then he returned to Ramah, because his house was there, and there he judged Israel, and he built an altar to Yahweh there.


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The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.


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But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.


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They said to him, “Look, you are old and your sons do not follow in your ways. So then appoint a king for us to judge us, like all the nations.


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But the matter was displeasing to Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” so Samuel prayed to Yahweh.


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Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.


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Like all the deeds they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt until this day, they have forsaken me and have served other gods—so they are doing to you also.


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And so then, listen to their voice. However, you must earnestly warn them; you must explain to them the custom of the king who will rule over them.”


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He said, “This will be the custom of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots.


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He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and those to do his plowing and to reap his harvest, and those to make weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots.


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He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive trees and will give them to his servants.


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He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his high officials and to his servants.


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He will take your male slaves and your female slaves and the best of your young men and your donkeys and will use them for his projects.


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So you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but Yahweh will not answer you on that day!”


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However, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel and they said, “No, but there must be a king over us,


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so that we also may be like all the nations, and our king may rule us and go out before us and fight our battles.”


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Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and appoint a king for them.” So Samuel spoke to the men of Israel, “Each of you go to his own town.”


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Now there was a man from Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjaminite, a very wealthy man.


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He had a son whose name was Saul, a young and handsome man. There was not a man from the Israelites more handsome than he was; from his shoulders up, he was taller than all the people.


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Now the female donkeys of Kish the father of Saul got lost, and Kish said to Saul his son, “Please take one of the servants with you and get up; go and seek the female donkeys.”


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So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim; he passed through the land of Shalisha but they did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim but they were not there. He passed through the land of Benjamin but did not find them.


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When they entered the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the female donkeys and worry about us!”


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But he said to him, “Look, a man of God is in this town, and the man is honored. All that he says certainly comes true. So then let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about our journey on which we have gone.”


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So Saul said to his servant, “Look, we may go, but what should we bring to the man? For the bread is gone from our bags, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have with us?”


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The servant again answered Saul and said, “Look, I have in my hand a quarter shekel of silver! I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us our way.”


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(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: “Come, let us go up to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called a seer.)


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So Saul said to his servant, “ Your suggestion is a good one. Come, let us go.” And they went to the town where the man of God was.


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They were going up the ascent of the town when they found young women going out to draw water. They said to them, “Is there the seer here?”


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They answered them and said, “There is. Look, he is just in front of you! Hurry now, because he has come to the town today, because there is a sacrifice for the people today at the high place.


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As soon as you enter the town, you will 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. Then afterward the invited guests will eat. So then, go up, because you will find him today!”


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So they went up to the town. As they were entering into the middle of the town, Samuel was coming forth to meet them, to go up to the high place.


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“This time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you must anoint him as leader over my people Israel. He will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen the suffering of my people, because their cry of distress has come to me.”


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When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh answered him, “Here is the man about whom I told you! This is the one who will govern my people.”


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Then Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate and said, “Please tell me, where is the house of the seer?”


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Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, and you will eat with me today; then I will send you away in the morning. I will tell you all that is on your mind.


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And as for your female donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be concerned about them, because they have been found. For whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not for you and for all the house of your father?”


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Saul answered and said, “ Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the humblest of all the families of the tribes of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me in this way?”


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So Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them to a room in the building and gave them a place at the head of the invited guests. There were about thirty men.


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Then Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion that I gave to you, about which I said to you, ‘Keep it with you.’ ”


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So the cook took up the shank and what was on it and put it before Saul, and he said, “Look, the saved portion is placed before you —eat, because it has been kept for you for the appointed time,” and he said, “I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.


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They got up early, and as dawn was breaking, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, so that I can send you away.” So Saul got up and the two of them, he and Samuel, went outside.


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As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us. When he has passed, you stand here a while, so that I can make known to you the word of God.”


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Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, “ Has not Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance?


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As you go from with me today, you will find two men near the burial site of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The female donkeys that you went to search for have been found.’ Now look, your father is no longer concerned about the female donkeys and has begun worrying about you, saying, ‘What should I do about my son?’


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Then you will go on from there and further you will come to the oak of Tabor. There three men will meet you, who are going up to God at Bethel. One will be carrying three male kid goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a skin of wine.


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After this, you will come to the Gibeah of God, where there are sentries of the Philistines. Just as you enter the town there, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place, with harp, tambourine, flute, and zither before them, and they will be prophesying.


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Then the Spirit of Yahweh will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will turn into a different person.


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Then you will go down before me to Gilgal. Look, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to make fellowship offerings. You must wait seven days until I come to you. Then I will let you know what you should do.”


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Just as he turned his shoulder to depart from Samuel, God changed his heart. And all these signs were fulfilled on that day.


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When they went from there to Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.


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And when all who knew him formerly saw that he prophesied with prophets, the people said to one another, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”


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And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “ Is Saul also among the prophets?”


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Then Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To search for the female donkeys; and when we saw none, we went to Samuel.”


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Then Saul said to his uncle, “He told us for certain that the female donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingship of which Samuel had spoken.


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and he said to the Israelites, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’


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But you today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, ‘No, but you must appoint a king over us!’ So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans.”


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Then he brought near the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, and the family of Matri was selected by lot. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, and they sought him, but he could not be found.


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So they inquired again of Yahweh, “ Did the man come here?” And Yahweh said, “Look, he is hiding himself among the baggage.”


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So they ran and took him from there, and when he took his stand among the people, he was taller than all the people from his shoulders and up.


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Then Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For 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 told the people the custom of the kingship, and he wrote the rules down on a scroll and laid it before Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house.


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And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah, and the troops whose hearts God had touched went with him.


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However, some worthless men said, “How can this man deliver us?” So they despised him and brought no gift to him, but he kept silent.


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Now Nahash the Ammonite went up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “ Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.”


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But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, by gouging out the right eye of each of you, so that I can make it a disgrace for all Israel.”


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So the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Leave us alone for seven days so that we may send messengers in all the territory of Israel, and if there is no deliverer for us, then we will come out to you.”


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When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported these things to the people. Then all the people lifted up their voices and wept.


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Just then, Saul was coming from the field behind the cattle. Saul said, “What is the matter with the people, that they are weeping?” So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh.


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So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever is not going out after Saul and after Samuel, so will it be done to his oxen.” Then the fear of Yahweh fell on the people and they went out as one man.


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He mustered them at Bezek; the Israelites were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah were thirty thousand.


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They said to the messengers who had come, “Thus you will say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow deliverance for you will come when the sun is hot.’ ” When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced.


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The men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”


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And the next day Saul placed the people in three divisions. Then they came into the middle of the camp at the early morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. It happened that the remainder were scattered so that no two among them remained together.


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Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is the one who asked, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Give the men to us that we may kill them.”


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But Saul said, “No one will be put to death on this day, because today Yahweh has provided deliverance in Israel.”


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So all the people went to Gilgal and they made Saul king there before Yahweh in Gilgal. They sacrificed fellowship offerings there before Yahweh. Then Saul rejoiced there greatly along with all the men of Israel.


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Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Look, I have listened to your voice regarding all that you have said to me, so I have set a king over you.


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And so then here is the king walking about before you. Now I am old and gray, but my sons (look at them!) are with you; and I have walked about before you from my youth until this day.


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Here I am! Testify against me before Yahweh and before his anointed one! Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe, that I may shut my eyes regarding him?–then I will restore it to you.”


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Then they said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us, and you have not taken anything from the hand of anyone.”


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So he said to them, “Yahweh is witness against you, and his anointed one is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” Then they said, “ He is witness.”


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Then Samuel said to the people, “Yahweh is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt.


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So then take your stand, so that I may judge you before Yahweh with regard to all the deeds of justice of Yahweh that he performed with both you and your ancestors.


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“When Jacob came to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to Yahweh, so he sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought your ancestors out from Egypt and settled them in this place.


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But they forgot Yahweh their God, so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the hosts of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.


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So they cried out to Yahweh and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hand of our enemies and we will serve you!’


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So Yahweh sent Jerub-Baal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel. Then he delivered you from the hand of your enemies all around, and you lived in security.


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“And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No! A king shall reign over us,’ although Yahweh your God is your king.


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So then look! Here is the king you have chosen, for whom you have asked! Look, Yahweh has placed a king over you!


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If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not be rebellious against what Yahweh says, and both you and the king who rules over you will follow after Yahweh your God, all will be well.


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But, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you rebel against what Yahweh says, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you as it was against your ancestors.


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Is the wheat harvest not today? I will call out to Yahweh so that he still sends thunder and rain, so that you will know and will see that your wickedness is great that you have done in the eyes of Yahweh by asking for a king for yourselves.”


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So Samuel called out to Yahweh, and Yahweh brought thunder and rain that same day, so all the people feared Yahweh and Samuel greatly.


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Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God so that we will not die, because we have added to all our sins by requesting a king for ourselves.”


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And Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear! You have done all this evil; only do not turn aside from following Yahweh. But you must serve Yahweh with all your heart.


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And do not turn aside after the triviality, which have no value and cannot deliver, for they are triviality.


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For Yahweh will not forsake his people for the sake of his great name, because Yahweh has decided to make you his own people.


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Also, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the good and righteous way.


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Only fear Yahweh and serve him faithfully with all of your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.


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Saul was thirty years old at the beginning of his reign, and he reigned forty- two years over Israel.


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He chose for himself three thousand from Israel. Two thousand of these were with Saul at Micmash in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent.


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Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”


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And all Israel did hear, saying, “Saul has defeated the garrison of the Philistines; and also, Israel has become a stench among the Philistines!” So the people were called out after Saul at Gilgal.


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And the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and an army as numerous as sand which is on the seashore. And they came up and encamped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven.


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When the men of Israel saw that it was too difficult for them, because the army was hard pressed, the people hid themselves in the caves, in the thorn bushes, in the cliffs, in the vaults and in the wells.


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Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the army followed him trembling.


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He waited seven days according to the appointed time Samuel determined, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army started to slip away from him.


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So Saul said, “Bring here to me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered up the burnt offering.


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Just as he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Samuel was coming. So Saul went out to meet him and to bless him.


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But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “Because I saw that the army was scattering from me and you did not come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had gathered at Micmash,


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therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet implored the face of Yahweh.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”


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Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have behaved foolishly! You have not kept the command of Yahweh your God which he commanded you. For then, Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.


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But now, your kingdom will not endure. Yahweh has sought for himself a man according to his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as leader over his people, because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you.”


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Then Samuel got up and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul mustered the people who were found with him, about six hundred men.


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Saul and Jonathan his son and the army that remained with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, and the Philistines encamped at Micmash.


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The raiders went out from the camp of the Philistines in three divisions. One division turned on the road to Ophrah toward the land of Shual.


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One division turned on the road to Beth Horon, and one turned on the road toward the border overlooking the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.


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Now no skilled craftsman could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “So that the Hebrews cannot make swords or spears for themselves.”


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So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to have his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his iron plowshare sharpened.


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The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshare and for the mattock, and a third of a shekel for the pick and for the axe, and to set the goading sticks.


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So on the day of battle, there was not a sword or a spear found in the hands of all the army that was with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.


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One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to his armor bearer, “Come and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines which is over there.” But he did not tell his father.


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Now Saul was staying at the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that was in Migron, and the troops that were with him were about six hundred men.


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Now Ahijah, the son of Ahitub (the brother of Ichabod), the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of Yahweh at Shiloh, was carrying an ephod. The troops did not know that Jonathan had gone.


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Now between the passes where Jonathan sought to go over to the garrison of the Philistines there was a crag of rock on one side and a crag of rock on the other. The name of the one was Bozez and the name of the other was Seneh.


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So Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come, let us go over to the garrisons of these uncircumcised; perhaps Yahweh will act for us, for there is no hindrance for Yahweh to save by many or by few.”


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And his armor bearer said, “Do all that is in your heart that you are inclined to do. I am with you all of the way !


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But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for Yahweh has given them into our hand, and this will be the sign for us.”


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So the two of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, “The Hebrews are coming out from the holes in which they have hidden themselves.”


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Then the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come up to us and we will show you something!” Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for Yahweh has given them into the hand of Israel!”


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So Jonathan went up on his hands and his feet, with his armor bearer after him. They fell before Jonathan and then his armor bearer would kill them after him.


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So was the first attack in which Jonathan and his armor bearer killed about twenty men within about half of a furrow in an acre of an open field.


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Then there was terror in the camp, in the open field, and among all the army of the garrison. Even the raiders trembled. The earth shook, and it became a very great panic.


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Saul said to the troops that were with him, “Please call the roll and see who has gone from us.” So they called the roll and found that Jonathan and his armor bearer were not present.


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Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ark of God” (for the ark of God was at that time with the Israelites ).


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While Saul was still speaking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more, so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!”


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Then Saul and all the troops who were with him were assembled on command and came up to the battle, and look! Each Philistine’s sword was against his friend; and there was a very great confusion.


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The Hebrews who had been for the Philistines previously, who had gone up with them into the camp all around, even they joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.


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All the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, so even they pursued them closely in the battle.


text:
Now the men of Israel were hard pressed on that day, because Saul had made the army take an oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats any food until evening, when I will have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the army tasted any food.


text:
(Now all the people of the land used to go into the forest, for there was honey on the surface of the ground.)


text:
When the army came to the forest, look! There was honey flowing, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the army was afraid of the solemn oath.


text:
However, Jonathan had not heard about the oath of his father with the army, so he extended the end of the staff which was in his hand, and he dipped it into the honeycomb. Then he put his hand to his mouth and his eyes gleamed.


text:
Then a man from the army informed him and said, “Your father made the army swear a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today,’ ” so the army is exhausted.


text:
Then Jonathan said, “My father has brought trouble on the land! See now that my eyes have brightened because I have tasted a little of this honey.


text:
How much more could have been done if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder of their enemies that they had found! For now the loss among the Philistines is not great.”


text:
Then the troops took the plunder: they took sheep and cattle and calves and slaughtered them on the ground and the troops ate them all with the blood.


text:
So they reported it to Saul, saying, “Look! The troops are sinning against Yahweh by eating the animals with the blood!” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously! Roll to me a large stone today !”


text:
Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the troops and say to them, ‘Bring to me each one his ox and each his sheep and slaughter them in this place and eat, but do not sin against Yahweh by eating the animals with the blood.’ ” So all the troops brought them, each leading his ox in his hand that night, and slaughtered it there.


text:
Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and let us plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave alive a man among them.” So they said, “Do all that is good in your eyes.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”


text:
So Saul inquired of God, “Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him on that day.


text:
Then Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, so that we find out what the sin was this day.


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For as Yahweh lives, who delivers Israel, I swear that even if it is in Jonathan my son, he will certainly die !” But nobody from all the army answered him.


text:
Then he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other.” And the army said to Saul, “Do what is good in your eyes.”


text:
Then Saul said to Yahweh the God of Israel, “ Render a decision perfectly.” Jonathan and Saul were chosen by lot and the people went out.


text:
So Saul said, “Tell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him and said, “I merely tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die.”


text:
But the army said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, who accomplished this great victory in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, not a hair from his head will fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the army ransomed Jonathan and he did not die.


text:
So Saul took the kingship over Israel, and he fought all around against his enemies, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. He inflicted punishment against all who rebelled.


text:
He acted bravely and defeated the Amalekites and rescued Israel from the hand of those who plundered it.


text:
Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua; the names of his two daughters were as follows: the name of the firstborn was Merab and the younger was Michal.


text:
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.


text:
Warfare was severe against the Philistines all the days of Saul. Whenever Saul saw anyone who was a mighty warrior or any brave man, he conscripted him into his service.


text:
Then Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. So then, listen to the words of Yahweh!


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Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘I have observed what Amalek did to Israel, how he opposed him when he went up from Egypt.


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So then, go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that is his! You must not spare him, but kill both man and woman, both child and nursing infant, both ox and sheep, both camel and donkey.’ ”


text:
Saul summoned the army and mustered them at Telaim; two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.


text:
Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, leave! Withdraw from among the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you with them. You have shown loyal love to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites left from among the Amalekites.


text:
He captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, but all the people he utterly destroyed with the edge of the sword.


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However, Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the cattle and the second best of the young fatlings and all that was valuable; they were not willing to utterly destroy them. But all the possessions that were despised or worthless, they utterly destroyed.


text:
“I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word.” Samuel became angry, and he cried out to Yahweh all night.


text:
Then Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul. Samuel was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and look, he is setting up a monument for himself.” Then he turned around and crossed over and went down to Gilgal.


text:
When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, “May you be blessed by Yahweh! I have kept the word of Yahweh.”


text:
But Samuel said, “Then what is this bleating of the sheep that I hear in my ears and the lowing of the cattle that I am hearing?”


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Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; the troops spared the best of the sheep and the cattle in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God. But the rest we have utterly destroyed.”


text:
Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop and let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” So he said to him, “Speak.”


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Samuel said, “Even though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh has anointed you as king over Israel.


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When Yahweh sent you on your way, he said to you: ‘Go! You must utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and you must fight against them until you have destroyed them.’


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Why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh and fall with shouting on the plunder? You have done evil in the sight of Yahweh!”


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Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have listened to the voice of Yahweh, and I have gone on the way that Yahweh sent me! I brought Agag the king of Amalek, and the Amalekites I have utterly destroyed.


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The troops took from the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal.”


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Then Samuel said, “Is there as much delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices as there is in obeying Yahweh? Look! To obey is better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams.


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For rebellion is like the sin of divination; arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king!”


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Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh and your words, for I feared the troops and I listened to their voice.


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But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and he has rejected you from being king over Israel!”


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Then Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.


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Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not break faith and will not regret, for he is not a human that he should regret.”


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Then he said, “I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me so that I can worship Yahweh your God.”


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Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of Amalek out to me!” Agag came to him confidently, for Agag thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is over.”


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Samuel said, “Just as your sword bereaved women, so will your mother be bereaved among women!” Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces in the presence of Yahweh at Gilgal.


text:
Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned over Saul, and Yahweh regretted that he made Saul king over Israel.


text:
Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “ How long will you mourn about Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel! Fill up your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for myself among his sons.”


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But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears, he will kill me.” Yahweh said, “You must take a heifer from the herd with you, and you must say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.’


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You will invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will make known to you what you must do. You will anoint for me the one whom I tell you.”


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So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, “ Have you come in peace?”


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He said, “ I come in peace. I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” So he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.


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But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God does not see what man sees, for a man looks on the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks on the heart.”


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Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, “This one also Yahweh has not chosen.”


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And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen any of these.”


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Then Samuel said to Jesse, “ Are all the young men here?” And he said, “The youngest still remains, but look, he is shepherding the flock.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him, for we cannot sit down until he comes here.”


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So he sent and brought him. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and of handsome appearance. And Yahweh said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”


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So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day on. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.


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Please, let our lord command your servants who are before you! Let them seek a man skilled in playing on the lyre. When the evil spirit from God is upon you, he can play on it and you will feel better.”


text:
So Saul said to his servants, “Please select a man who plays a stringed instrument well and bring him to me.”


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One of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a stringed instrument, a brave man, a warrior, prudent in speech, and handsome. And Yahweh is with him.”


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And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a skin of wine and one young goat and sent them to Saul by the hand of David his son.


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So David came to Saul and entered his service. He loved him greatly and he became Saul’s armor bearer.


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Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor in my sight.”


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So whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then it would bring relief for Saul; he would feel better and the evil spirit would depart from him.


text:
The Philistines gathered their camps for battle and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim.


text:
Then Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and they formed ranks for the battle to meet the Philistines.


text:
The Philistines were standing on the hill on one side and the army of Israel was standing on the hill on the other side with the valley between them.


text:
Then a champion went out from the camps of the Philistines, whose name was Goliath from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.


text:
A bronze helmet was on his head, and he was clothed with scale body armor; the weight of the body armor was five thousand bronze shekels.


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The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam and the point of his spear weighed six hundred iron shekels. His shield bearer was walking in front of him.


text:
He stood and called to the battle lines of Israel and said to them, “Why have you come out to form ranks for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Commission for yourselves a man and let him come down to me.


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If he is able to fight with me and he defeats me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail over him and defeat him, then you will be our servants and you will serve us.”


text:
Then the Philistine said, “I hereby defy the battle lines of Israel today! Give me a man so that we may fight each other!”


text:
Now David was the son of an Ephrathite. This man was from Bethlehem of Judah, and his name was Jesse. He had eight sons; in the days of Saul this man was old, yet he still walked among the men.


text:
The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone and followed Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, his second oldest was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.


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Then Jesse said to his son David, “Please take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and bring them quickly to the camp for your brothers.


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And these ten portions of cheese you will bring to the commander of the thousand; find out how your brothers are doing, and take their pledge.”


text:
David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment while the troops were going to the battle line, and they raised the war cry.


text:
David left the baggage he had with him in the care of the baggage keeper, ran to the battle line, and came and asked how his brothers were doing.


text:
While he was speaking to them, the champion, whose name was Goliath the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the caves of the Philistines. He spoke just as he had previously, and David heard his words.


text:
And the men of Israel said, “Did you see this man who has come up? For he is going up to defy Israel! It will be that the man who defeats him, the king will make him very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter in marriage and will make his father’s house free in Israel.”


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Now David had spoken to the men who were standing with him, saying, “What will be done for the man who defeats this Philistine and removes the disgrace from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the battle lines of the living God?”


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And the troops had spoken to him according to this word, saying, “So it will be done for the man who defeats him.”


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His oldest brother Eliab heard while he was speaking to the men, and Eliab became very angry against David and said, “Why have you come down today, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumptuousness and the evil of your heart! For you have come down in order to see the battle!”


text:
He turned around from him to another opposite him and he spoke to him in the same way, and the people answered him as before.


text:
Now the words which David had spoken were heard and they reported them to Saul, and he summoned him.


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David said to Saul, “Do not let anyone’s heart fail concerning him! Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”


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But Saul said to David, “You will not be able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, because you are only a boy, whereas he has been a man of war since his childhood!”


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And David said to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd of the flock for his father. If the lion or the bear would come and carry off a sheep from the group,


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


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Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he defied the battle lines of the living God.”


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And David said, “Yahweh, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go and may Yahweh be with you!”


text:
Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with body armor.


text:
Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk around, for he was not trained to use them. So David said to Saul, “I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use them.” So David removed them.


text:
Then he took his staff in his hand, picked out for himself five smooth stones from the wadi, and he put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.


text:
Then the Philistine came on, getting nearer and nearer to David, with his shield bearer in front of him.


text:
When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was only a boy and ruddy with a handsome appearance.


text:
So the Philistine said to David, “ Am I a dog, that you are coming to me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.


text:
The Philistine said to David, “Come to me so that I can give your flesh to the birds of heaven and to the wild animals of the field!”


text:
Then David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I am coming to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have defied!


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This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head ! Then I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God who is for Israel.


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And all of this assembly will know that Yahweh does not rescue with sword or with spear, for the battle belongs to Yahweh, and he will give you into our hands!”


text:
When the Philistine got up and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.


text:
Then David put his hand into the bag and took a stone from it and slung it. He struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.


text:
So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him, but there was no sword in David’s hand.


text:
Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.


text:
The men of Israel and Judah got up, raised the war cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley and up to the gates of Ekron. So the slain of the Philistines fell on the way to Shaaraim up to Gath and as far as Ekron.


text:
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem and placed his weapons in his tent.


text:
Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”


text:
So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. The head of the Philistine was in his hand.


text:
Then Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David said, “ I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”


text:
When he finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan became attached to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.


text:
Jonathan stripped off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his fighting attire, and even his sword, his bow, and his belt.


text:
David went out whenever Saul sent him, and he succeeded. So Saul appointed him over the men of the war, and it pleased all the people and even pleased the servants of Saul.


text:
When they were coming back after David had returned from striking down the Philistine, the women went out from all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments.


text:
And the women sang as they danced, and they said, “Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his ten thousands!”


text:
Saul became very angry, and this saying displeased him, and he thought, “They have attributed to David ten thousands, but to me they have attributed thousands! What more can he have but the kingdom?”


text:
On the next day, the evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. Now David was playing the lyre with his hand on that day as usual, and the spear was in Saul’s hand.


text:
Then Saul hurled the spear and thought, “ I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.


text:
Now Saul was threatened by the presence of David because Yahweh was with him, but had departed from Saul.


text:
So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him commander of a thousand, so he marched in and out at the front of the army.


text:
However, all of Israel and Judah were loving David, for he was going forth and marching ahead of them.


text:
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife. Only be a brave warrior for me and fight the battles of Yahweh.” For Saul thought, “My hand will not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”


text:
But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, the clan of my father in Israel, that I should be a son-in-law to the king?”


text:
But at the time Saul’s daughter Merab was to be given to David, she was given instead to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.


text:
And Saul thought, “I will give her to him, so that she may be a snare for him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time you can become my son-in-law today.”


text:
Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in secret, saying, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. So then, become a son-in-law of the king.’ ”


text:
And Saul’s servants spoke these words to David privately. But David said, “ Is it insignificant in your sight to become the son-in-law of the king, as I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?”


text:
Then Saul said, “This is what you must say to David: ‘ The king desires no bride price except for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.’ ” (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of the Philistines.)


text:
So his servants told David these words, and the matter pleased David to become the son-in-law of the king as the specified time had not expired.


text:
And David got up, and he and his men went and struck down two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they presented the full number to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as his wife.


text:
Then the commanders of the Philistines went out for battle, and as often as they went out, David succeeded more than all the servants of Saul, and his name became very esteemed.


text:
Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants about killing David, but Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much.


text:
So Jonathan informed David, saying, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; now please take care! In the morning you should stay in the hiding place and conceal yourself.


text:
I will go out and stand at my father’s side in the field where you are, and I will speak about you to my father; if I find out anything I will tell it to you.”


text:
So Jonathan spoke well about David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his service for you has been very good.


text:
He put his life in his hand and attacked the Philistine, and Yahweh brought about a great victory for all of Israel, and you saw it and rejoiced! Now why should you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?”


text:
And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore, “ As Yahweh lives, he will not be put to death!”


text:
Jonathan called to David and told him all of these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was before him as formerly.


text:
War came again, so David went out and fought against the Philistines and defeated them thoroughly so that they fled before him.


text:
Then the evil spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing a stringed instrument in his hand.


text:
So Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that same night.


text:
Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard him and to kill him in the morning, but Michal his wife told David, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, then tomorrow you will be killed!”


text:
Then Michal took the household god and put it on the bed and put a quilt of goat’s hair at its head and covered it with the clothes.


text:
So Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, so that I can kill him.”


text:
When the messengers came, to their surprise the idol was on the bed with the quilt of goat’s hair at the head.


text:
Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and sent away my enemy, so that he escaped?” Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go, why should I kill you?’ ”


text:
So David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.


text:
So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as chief over them, then the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied.


text:
So they told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Again Saul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied.


text:
Then he also went to Ramah. When he came to the great cistern which was in Secu, he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone said, “Look they are in Naioth in Ramah.”


text:
So he went there to Naioth in Ramah and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.


text:
He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, “ Is Saul also among the prophets?”


text:
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt and what is my sin before your father that he is trying to kill me?


text:
And he said to him, “Far from it! You will not die! Look, my father does not do anything large or small unless he reveals it to me. Why should my father hide this thing or anything from me?”


text:
Then David took an oath again and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thought, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he worry.’ But as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, surely there is merely a step between me and death!”


text:
David said to Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should certainly sit with the king to eat. You must send me away so that I can hide myself in the field until the third evening.


text:
If your father misses me at all, then you must say, ‘David earnestly asked from me to run to Bethlehem his city, for the yearly sacrifice is there for all the clan.’


text:
If he says ‘Good,’ it will mean peace for your servant; but if he is very angry, know that he has decided to do me harm.


text:
So you must show loyal love to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you. But if there is guilt in me, then kill me yourself! But why should you bring me to your father?”


text:
Then Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I know for certain that my father decided evil should come upon you, would I not have told it to you?”


text:
And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out to the field.” So the two of them went out to the field.


text:
Then Jonathan said to David, “Yahweh the God of Israel is my witness that I will question my father by this time the day after tomorrow. And look, if he is well disposed toward you, will I not send word to you and disclose it to you?


text:
So may Yahweh punish Jonathan and more if my father decides to do you harm and if I fail to disclose it to you and send word to you that you can go safely. And may Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.


text:
And not while I am still alive, will you not show the loyal love of Yahweh with me, that I may not die?


text:
And do not cut off your loyal love from my family forever, not even when Yahweh exterminates each of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”


text:
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May Yahweh call the enemies of David to account.”


text:
And Jonathan again made David swear an oath, because he loved him; for with the love of his soul he loved him.


text:
Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will stay empty.


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On the third day you must go down quickly and go to the place where you hid yourself on the day all this started and remain beside the stone Ezel.


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Then I will send word to my servant, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ If I clearly say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring it,’ then come, for it means peace for you. And there is no problem, as Yahweh lives.


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But if I say this to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, for Yahweh has sent you away.


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The king sat at his seat as before, the seat by the wall, and Jonathan got up, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.


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But Saul said nothing on that day, for he thought, “ Something happened to him. He is not ceremonially clean; surely he is not clean.”


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And then on the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty. So Saul asked Jonathan his son, “Why did the son of Jesse not come either yesterday or today to the feast?”


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He said, ‘Send me away, please, for our clan sacrifice is in the city, and my brother commanded me to be present. So then, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the table of the king.”


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Then Saul became angry at Jonathan and said to him, “ You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?


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For as long as the son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established! So then, send and bring him to me, for he will surely die !”


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But Jonathan answered his father Saul and said to him, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”


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Then Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father had decided to kill David.


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Jonathan got up from the table enraged, and did not eat on the second day of the new moon because he was upset about David, because his father had disgraced him.


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And then in the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a young boy was with him.


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He said to his servant, “Run, please find the arrows that I am shooting!” The boy ran, and he shot the arrow to pass over him.


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When the boy came up to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, “ Is not the arrow beyond you?”


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Then Jonathan called out after the boy, “Quick, hurry, do not linger!” And Jonathan’s servant collected the arrows and came to his master.


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The boy left, and then David got up from the south side, and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, but David wept the most.


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Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn, the two of us, an oath in the name of Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring forever.” Then he got up and left, and Jonathan went into the city.


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Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and he said to him, “Why are you alone and there are no men with you?”


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So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘No one must know anything about this matter on which I am sending you, with which I have charged you and the servants.’ ” So I have arranged to meet with my servants at a certain place.


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The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread here at hand; there is only holy bread, but only if the young men have kept themselves from women.”


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David answered the priest and said to him, “Indeed, women were held back from us as it has been when I’ve gone out before. And the things of the young men are holy when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will the things be holy?”


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So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which was removed from before Yahweh, in order to set hot bread there on the day when it was taken away.


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Now there was a man from the servants of Saul on that day, detained before Yahweh, whose name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.


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David asked Ahimelech, “Is there not at your disposal a spear or a sword? For I took neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king’s matter was urgent.”


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So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you killed in the valley of Elah is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, then take it, for there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”


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So David got up and fled on that day from the presence of Saul, and he came to Achish the king of Gath.


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The servants of Achish said to him, “ Is not this David the king of the land? Is it not for this one that they sang in the dances, saying, ‘Saul killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands?’ ”


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So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be mad in their presence. He made scratches on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down into his beard.


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Do I lack madmen that you have brought this one to act like a madman before me? Should this one enter my household?”


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David went from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all his father’s household heard, they came down to him there.


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Every man in distress and every man who had a creditor and every embittered man gathered to him, and he became their commander. Now there were about four hundred men with him.


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And David went up from there to Mizpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”


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So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the days David was in the stronghold.


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Then Gad the prophet said to David, “You should not stay in the stronghold; leave and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and came to the forest of Hereth.


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Now Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been located. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at Ramah. Now his spear was in his hand and all his servants were stationed around him.


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Then Saul said to the servants who were standing around him, “Please listen, Benjaminites ! Will the son of Jesse give you all fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?


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For all of you have conspired against me, and no one discloses to me the making of an agreement between my son and the son of Jesse! None of you have had sympathy for me or disclosed to me that my son commissioned my servant against me to ambush me as has been done this day!”


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But Doeg the Edomite, who was stationed among the servants of Saul, answered and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.


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And he inquired of Yahweh for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”


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So the king sent to summon Ahimelech the son of Ahitub the priest, and all his father’s household, the priests who were at Nob. So all of them came to the king.


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Then Saul said to him, “Why did you conspire against me, you and the son of Jesse, when you gave to him bread and a sword, and by inquiring of God for him so that he might arise against me to ambush me as has been done this day?”


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But Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David? He is the son-in-law of the king who moves quickly to safeguard you and is honored in your house.


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Only today I began to inquire of God for him. Far be it from me that the king should impute anything against his servant or against my father’s household, for your servant has not known any of this matter, little or much.”


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So the king said to the runners who were stationed around him, “Turn and kill the priests of Yahweh, because they also support David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king were not willing to raise their hand to attack the priests of Yahweh.


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Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and attack the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests himself, and on that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.


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And he put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, from man to woman, from child to infant, and ox and donkey and sheep; all to the sword.


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But, one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, whose name was Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.


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Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day that Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul. I am responsible for the deaths of all your father’s household !


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Stay with me! Do not fear, because he who seeks my life seeks your life. You are in good care with me.”


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Now they told David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting in Keilah and they are raiding the threshing floors.”


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So David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And Yahweh said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”


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But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more if we go to Keilah to the battle lines of the Philistines?”


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So David again inquired of Yahweh, and Yahweh answered him and said, “Get up, go down to Keilah, for I am giving the Philistines into your hand.”


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So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines. They drove off their livestock and dealt them a heavy blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.


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Now when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he went down with an ephod in his hand.


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When it was told to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, because he has shut himself in by going into a city with two barred gates.


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Saul then summoned all of the army for the battle, to go down to Keilah to lay a siege against David and his men.


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When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”


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And David said, “O Yahweh, God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.


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Will the rulers of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Yahweh, God of Israel, please tell your servant!” And Yahweh said, “He will come down.”


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Then David said, “Will the rulers of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And Yahweh said, “They will deliver you.”


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So David and his men got up, about six hundred men, and went out from Keilah and wandered wherever they could go. When it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he stopped his pursuit.


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David remained in the wilderness, in the strongholds, and in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him continually, but God did not give him into his hand.


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When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.


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He said to him, “Do not be afraid, for the hand of my father Saul will not find you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. My father Saul knows this also.”


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Then the two of them made a covenant before Yahweh. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went to his house.


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Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “ Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which is south of Jeshimon?


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So then, O king, whenever you want to come down, come down, and it will be for us to deliver him into the hand of the king.”


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Go, please, make certain again! Find out and see exactly where he is and who has seen him there! For they have said to me, ‘He is very cunning.’


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Look, find out all of the hiding places where he hides. Then return to me with dependable information, and I will go with you. And then if he is there in the land, then I will seek him among all the thousands of Judah.”


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Then they got up and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon.


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And Saul and his men went to seek him, and they told David, so he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard this, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon.


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Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.


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But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, because the Philistines have made a raid on the land!”


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So Saul returned from pursuing David, and he went to confront the Philistines. Therefore, they called that place the Rock of Division.


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When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, they told him, “Look, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi.”


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So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and he and his men went to search for David in the direction of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats.


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He came to the sheep pens beside the road, and a cave was there. Then Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost part of the cave.


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And David’s men said to him, “Look, today is the day about which Yahweh said to you, ‘See, I am giving your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him whatever seems good to you.’ ” So David got up and secretly cut the hem of Saul’s robe.


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He said to his men, “Far be it from me in Yahweh, that I do this thing to my lord, to Yahweh’s anointed one, by stretching out my hand against him! For he is the anointed one of Yahweh.”


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So David rebuked his men with the words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave, and he went on his way.


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Then David got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked after him, David knelt down with his face to the ground and bowed down.


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Then David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say: ‘Look, David is seeking to do you harm ’?


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Look, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh gave you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you. But I took pity on you and said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, because he is Yahweh’s anointed one.’


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Now, my father, see, yes, see, the hem of your robe in my hand! For when I cut the hem of your robe I did not kill you. Know and realize that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I did not sin against you, but you are hunting down my life to take it.


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May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me on you, but my hand will not be against you!


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Just as the ancient proverb says, ‘From the wicked, wickedness goes out,’ but my hand will not be against you!


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After whom did the king of Israel go out? After whom are you pursuing? After a dead dog? After one flea?


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May Yahweh be the judge, and let him judge between me and you, and may he see and plead my case. May he vindicate me against you !”


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When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “ Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.


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Then he said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me the good, but I have repaid you the evil.


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You have explained to me today that you have dealt well with me, how Yahweh delivered me into your hand but you did not kill me.


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For a man has found his enemy but sent him on his way safely. Now may Yahweh reward you with good in return for this day, for what you have done for me.


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So now then, look, I know that you will certainly be king and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.


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So then, swear to me by Yahweh that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not wipe out my name from my father’s house.”


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So David swore this on oath to Saul, and Saul went to his house, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.


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Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. They buried him at his house at Ramah. Then David got up and went down to the wilderness of Paran.


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Now there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich and owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. Now the shearing of his sheep was taking place in Carmel.


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The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail. Now the woman was wise and beautiful, but the man was stubborn and mean, and he was as his heart.


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So David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal; you will greet him in my name.


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Then you must say to him, ‘ Long life to you, and may it go well with you, with your house, and with all that is yours.


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Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now while your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and nothing of theirs was missing, all the days they were in Carmel.


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Ask your servants and they will tell you! Let the young men find favor in your eyes because we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have on hand for your servants and for your son David.”


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So David’s young men came and they spoke all these words to Nabal in the name of David. Then they waited.


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But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, there are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters.


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Should I take my bread and my water and my meat which I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from?


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So David’s young men turned on their way and returned and came and told him according to all these words.


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Then David said to his men, “Each man strap on his sword!” So each one strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.


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But a young man of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, but he addressed them angrily,


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even though the men were very good to us; we were not mistreated and did not miss anything all the days we went about with them while we were in the field.


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And so then, know and consider what you should do, for evil has been decided against our master and against all his household, and he is such a wicked man, nobody can reason with him !”


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Then Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes, and she put them on the donkeys.


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Then she said to her servants, “Go ahead before me; look, I am coming after you,” but she did not tell her husband Nabal.


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And then, as she was riding on the donkey and was going down the ravine of the mountain, David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she met them.


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Now David had said, “Surely in vain I guarded all that this fellow had in the desert. And nothing was missed of all that was his, but he returned evil against me in place of good!


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May God severely punish the enemies of David and again do thus if I leave behind anything that is his until the morning, not even one male !”


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When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell on her face before David’s anger, and she bowed down to the ground.


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She fell at his feet and said, “On me, my lord, be the guilt! Please let your female servant speak to you personally ! Hear the words of your female servant!


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Please do not let my lord set his heart against this worthless man, Nabal; for as his name, so is he. Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him! But I, your female servant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.


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So then, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, since Yahweh restrained you from bloodguilt by taking matters into your own hand, so then, may your enemies be like Nabal, even those who seek to do my lord harm.


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So then, this gift which your female servant has brought to my lord, may it be given to the young men who follow my lord.


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Please forgive the transgression of your female servant, because Yahweh will certainly make a lasting house for my lord, because my lord is fighting the battles of Yahweh, and evil will not be found in you as long as you live.


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Should a man arise to pursue you and to seek your life, may the life of my lord be wrapped in the pouch of the living with Yahweh your God. But as for the life of your enemy, he will sling it from within the pocket of the sling!


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And then when Yahweh has done for my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you as leader over Israel,


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then this will not be an obstacle for you or a stumbling block of conscience for my lord either by the shedding of blood without cause or by my lord taking matters into his own hands. And when Yahweh does good to my lord, then remember your female servant.”


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Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who has sent you this day to meet me!


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And blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you who have prevented me this day from bloodguilt and from delivering myself by my own hand.


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But as Yahweh lives, the God of Israel who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been one male left alive for Nabal by the light of morning!”


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Then David took from her hand what she had brought for him, and he said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice, and I have granted your request.”


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Then Abigail went to Nabal, and look, he was holding a feast in his house like the feast of the king. Nabal was enjoying himself, and he was very drunk, so she did not tell him a thing, nothing at all, until the light of morning.


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And then in the morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these words. Then his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.


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When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Blessed be Yahweh who has vindicated the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and he has kept back his servant from evil; but Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for his wife.


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So the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you for his wife.”


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She got up and bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “Here is your female servant, as a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”


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Then Abigail quickly got up and rode on the donkey, along with five of her maidservants who attended her, and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife.


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(Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.)


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The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “ Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah opposite Jeshimon?”


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Then Saul got up and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.


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Now Saul was on the hill of Hakilah, which is opposite Jeshimon by the road, but David was staying in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had come to the wilderness after him,


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Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul was lying down, as well as Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul was lying in the encampment, and the army was encamping around him.)


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David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah the brother of Joab, 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 army by night, and there was Saul lying asleep in the encampment with his spear thrust into the ground near his head, and Abner and the army were lying all around him.


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Then Abishai said to David, “God has handed over your enemy into your hand today! So then, please let me pin him to the ground with the spear one time, and I will not strike him twice.”


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But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him! For who has stretched out his hand against Yahweh’s anointed one and remained blameless?”


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And David said, “ As Yahweh lives, certainly Yahweh will strike him, or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down in the battle and perish.


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Yahweh forbid me from stretching out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed one! So then, please take the spear that is near his head and the jar of water, and let us go.”


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So David took the spear and the jar of water from near Saul’s head, and they went away. No one saw, no one knew, and no one awakened, for all of them were sleeping because a deep sleep of Yahweh had fallen upon them.


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Then David went to the other side and stood on the top of the hill at a distance; the distance was great between them.


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David called out to the army and to Abner the son of Ner, “Will you not answer, Abner?” And Abner answered and said, “Who are you that you call to the king?”


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So David said to Abner, “ Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why did you not keep watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy your lord the king.


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This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh lives, surely you people deserve to die since you have not kept watch over your lord, over Yahweh’s anointed one! So then, see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was near his head!”


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Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “ Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “ It is my voice, my lord the king.”


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Then he said, “Why is my lord pursuing after his servant? For what have I done? And what evil is in my hand?


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And so then, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant: If Yahweh has incited you against me, may he delight in an offering; but if it is mortals, may they be accursed before Yahweh, for they have driven me away today from sharing in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’


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And so then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of Yahweh, for the king of Israel has gone out to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”


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Then Saul said, “I have sinned! Come back, David my son, for I will not harm you again, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Look, I have acted like a fool and have made a terrible mistake.”


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Yahweh repays to each one his righteousness and his faithfulness, for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but I was not willing to stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed.


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Look, as your life was precious in my eyes this day, may my life be great in the eyes of Yahweh, and may he rescue me from all trouble.”


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Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will not only do many things, but also will always succeed !” Then David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.


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Then David thought to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but that I must certainly escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand.”


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So David got up and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, the king of Gath.


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David settled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his household. David took along his two wives Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.


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Then David said to Achish, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let them give me a place in one of the country towns that I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”


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So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this day.)


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The number of days that David lived in the countryside of the Philistines was one year and four months.


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Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living in the land for a long time in the direction of Shur and as far as the land of Egypt.


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So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish.


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And Achish said, “Against whom have you raided today?” David said, “Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites.”


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And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring them back to Gath, thinking, “So that they will not report about us, saying, ‘David did thus and so.’ ” Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of the Philistines.


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And Achish trusted David, saying, “ He has made himself utterly hated among his people in Israel, and he will be my servant forever.”


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Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “Certainly you realize that you must go out with me in the army, you and your men.”


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David said to Achish, “Very well, you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”


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(Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and they had buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had expelled the mediums and the soothsayers from the land.)


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Then the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem, so Saul assembled all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa.


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And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.


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So Saul said to his servants, “Search for me a woman who is a medium so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “Look there is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”


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So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went with two of his men. And they came to the woman by night and he said, “Please consult a spirit for me through the ritual pit, and bring up for me the one whom I tell you.”


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But the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums and the soothsayers from the land! Why are you setting a trap for my life to kill me?”


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When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”


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The king said to her, “Do not be afraid! What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up from the ground!”


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Then he said to her, “What is his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul realized that it was Samuel, and he knelt with his face to the ground and bowed down.


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Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul said, “ I am in distress ! For the Philistines are about to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not by the prophets or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do.”


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Then Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy?


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Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David.


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Because you did not obey Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his wrath against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today.


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And Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and Yahweh will also give the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”


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Then Saul immediately fell prostrate to the ground, and he was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was no more strength in him, for he had not eaten food all day and all night.


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Then the woman came to Saul and realized that he was absolutely terrified, so she said to him, “Look, your female servant has obeyed you, and I have risked my life. I have listened to your words that you have spoken to me.


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So then, you also please listen to the voice of your female servant, and let me set before you a morsel of bread, and you eat so that you will have strength in you when you go on your way.”


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But he refused and said, “I will not eat!” However, his servants urged him, and the woman also. So he listened to what they said, and he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.


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Now the woman had a fattened bull calf in the house, so she quickly slaughtered it and took flour, kneaded dough, and baked him some unleavened bread.


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She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that very night.


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Now the Philistines assembled all their forces at Aphek, and Israel was encamped at the spring that is in Jezreel.


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The rulers of the Philistines were passing on according to hundreds and thousands, David and his men passing on 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, the king of Israel, who has been with me for days and years? I have not found anything threatening in him from the day of his desertion until this day!”


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But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, “Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men?


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Is this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands’?”


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So Achish called David and said to him, “ As Yahweh lives, certainly you were honest, and I am pleased to have you marching with me in the campaign. For I have not found any wrong in you from the day you came to me until this day, but in the eyes of the rulers, you are not good.


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So then, return and go in peace, so that you do not do something that displeases the rulers of the Philistines.”


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Then David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day that I entered your service until 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 good in my eyes, like an angel of God! However, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us into the battle.’


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So then, rise early in the morning, you and the servants of your lord who came with you. When you rise early in the morning and it is light enough for you, leave.


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So David set out early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.


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Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire.


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They took captive the women who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest. They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way.


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When David and his men came to the city, they saw, and 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 raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep.


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Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.


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And David was in a very precarious situation, for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each one over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.


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Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here for me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.


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And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.”


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So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi Besor, but the rest remained.


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David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.


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Then they found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David, and they gave him food and he ate; they also gave him water.


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They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and this revived him, because he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.


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Then David said to him, “ To whom do you belong, and from where are you? The young man said, “I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago.


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We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and that which belongs to Judah and then the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”


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So David asked him, “Will you take me down to this band of raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and that you will not deliver me into my master’s hand! Then I will take you down to this band.”


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So he took him down, and there they were, spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.


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Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled.


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None of theirs was missing from the smallest to the greatest, even sons and daughters, from the plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything.


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And David took all of the sheep, and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, “This is David’s plunder.”


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Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David; they had left them behind at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and asked them how they were doing.


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Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder which we recovered, except each man may take his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!”


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But David said to them, “You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the raiding band that came against us into our hand.


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And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike.”


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Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “ Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!”


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for those in Racal, for those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, for those in the towns of the Kenites,


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Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa.


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And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul.


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Saul was in the thick of the battle, and the archers spotted him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.


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Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised do not come and thrust me through and make a fool of me!” But his armor bearer was not willing to do so because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.


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And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those who were beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled. Thus the Philistines came and lived in them.


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And then the next day, the Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa.


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So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent messengers around in the land of the Philistines to proclaim victory in the temples of their idols and to the people.


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And they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreth, and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.


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all of the valiant men set out and went 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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Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.


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After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and he stayed at Ziklag two days.


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On the third day, a man came from the camp from being with Saul, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and bowed down.


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David said to him, “Where did you come from?” He said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”


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Then David said to him, “ How did things go? Please tell me.” He answered, “ When the army fled from the battle, and many of the people fell; also, Saul and Jonathan his son died.”


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Then David asked the young man who was reporting to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan died?”


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The young man who was reporting to him said, “I merely happened to be on Mount Gilboa. Here Saul was leaning on his spear, and look, the chariots and the horsemen were getting close to him.


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He said to me, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for convulsions have seized me, even though my life is still in me.’


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So I stood over him and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after his falling; I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm; and here, I have brought them to my lord.


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Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, as well as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.


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Then David said to the young man who was reporting to him, “Where are you from?” And he said, “I am the son of an alien man. I am an Amalekite.”


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David said to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy Yahweh’s anointed one?”


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Then David called to one of the young men and said to him, “Come near; strike him.” So he struck him down and he died.


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David said to him, “Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you by saying, ‘I killed Yahweh’s anointed one!’ ”


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And he ordered “The Bow” to be taught to the children of Judah. Look, it is written on the scroll of Jashar.


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Do not tell it in Gath; do not proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.


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O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you or on the fields of grain for offerings, for there the small shield of the mighty was defiled, the small shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.


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From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword of Saul did not return without effect.


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Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives and were not separated in their death. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.


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O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, the one who clothed you with crimson, the one who adorned your clothing with golden ornaments.


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I am distressed over you, my brother Jonathan. you were very dear to me; your love was more wonderful to me than the love of women.


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It happened after this that David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” And Yahweh said to him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.”


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So David went up there along with his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.


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Also, David brought up his men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the towns of Hebron.


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Then the men of Judah came, and they anointed David there as king over the house of Judah, and they told David, “The men of Jabesh-Gilead buried Saul.”


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So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by Yahweh because you did this loyal love with your lord, with Saul, and you buried him.


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Now may Yahweh show loyal love and faithfulness with you. I will also show the good with you that you have done in this matter.


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So then, let your hands be strong and be valiant, for your lord Saul is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me as king over them.”


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But Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.


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He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over Israel, all of it.


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Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel and he reigned two years; however, the house of Judah followed David.


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The number of days that David was king over Hebron, over the house of Judah, was seven years and six months.


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Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.


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Then Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out, and they met at the pool of Gibeon. The one group sat on one side of the pool, and the other sat on the other side.


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Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men come up and fight in our presence.” And Joab said, “Let them come up.”


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So they came forward and passed by in number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.


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Then each seized his opponent by the head and each thrust his sword in the side of his opponent, so they fell together. So they called the name of that place Helkath Hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.


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Then the battle became increasingly fierce on that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated before the servants of David.


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The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift with his feet as one of the gazelles which is in the open field.


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So Asahel pursued Abner, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left from going after Abner.


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Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left; seize for yourself one of the young men, and take his belongings for yourself.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from him.


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So Abner said to Asahel once again, “ For your own sake, turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you down to the ground? How could I show my face to Joab your brother?”


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But he refused to turn away, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of the spear, and the spear went out of his back. He fell there and he died on the spot. Then all who came to the place where Asahel fell and died just stood there.


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So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner when the sun went down. And they came to the hill country of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.


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The descendants of Benjamin rallied after Abner, and they became as one fighting group and stood on the top of a certain hill.


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Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Will the sword devour forever? Do you not know that there will be bitterness in the end? How long will you not tell the people to turn away from pursuing their brothers?”


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Joab said, “ As God lives, for if you had not spoken, the people would surely have gone up in the morning, each one of them from following after his brother.”


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Then Joab blew on the trumpet and all the people stopped, and they no longer pursued after Israel, and they did not fight with them again.


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Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night, and they crossed over the Jordan. They went all the forenoon and came to Mahanaim.


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After Joab returned from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the people; nineteen of the servants of David were missing along with Asahel.


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The servants of David had killed some of the Benjaminites among the men of Abner; three hundred and sixty men had died.


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Then they picked up Asahel and buried him in the grave of his father, which was at Bethlehem. Joab and his men went all that night  arriving in Hebron at first light.


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The battle was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David  was growing stronger and stronger while the house of Saul  was becoming weaker and weaker.


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His second was Kileab by Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; the third was Absalom the son of Maacah, who was the daughter of Talmai the king of Geshur.


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As the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was continuing, Abner was strengthening himself in the house of Saul.


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Saul had had a concubine, and her name was Rizpah the daughter of Aiah. Then Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you have sex with my father’s concubine?”


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Abner became very angry at the words of Ish-Bosheth, and he said, “ Am I the head of a dog which is for Judah today? Do I not continue to show loyal love with the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends? I have not let you fall into the hands of David, yet you have accused me of sin with this woman today.


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specifically, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba!”


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Abner sent messengers to David where he was, saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me ! Look, my hand is with you to bring all of Israel over to you!”


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He said, “Good. I will make a covenant with you. I am asking only one thing from you: You shall not see my face unless you bring Michal the daughter of Saul when you come to see me.”


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Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, saying, “Give me my wife Michal whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”


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But her husband went with her, weeping all along after her as far as Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go and return.” So he returned.


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The word of Abner came to the elders of Israel, saying, “ For quite some time you were seeking David as king over you.


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So then, bring it about, because Yahweh had said to David, “Through the hand of David my servant I am about to save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.”


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Abner also spoke privately to Benjamin. Abner also went to speak to David in Hebron, all that was good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all the house of Benjamin.


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Then Abner came to David in Hebron and with him were twenty men. David had prepared a feast for Abner and for the men who were with him.


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And Abner said to David, “Let me get up and go and gather all of Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you so you can reign over all which your soul desires.” So David dismissed Abner, and he left in peace.


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And look, the servants of David and Joab came from the raid, and they brought much plunder with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.


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When Joab and all the army that was with him came, they told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he left in peace.”


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Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner came here to you? Why have you dismissed him that he actually went away?


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You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you. He came to learn about your going out and coming in and to know all which you are doing.”


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Then Joab went out from David, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from Bor Hasirah, but David did not know it.


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When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate to speak with him in private. Then he struck him in the stomach there and he died, for he had shed the blood of Asahel his brother.


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When David heard this afterwards, he said: “I and my kingdom are innocent before Yahweh forever for the blood of Abner the son of Ner.


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May the blood come down on the head of Joab and all the house of his father. May the house of Joab never lack one with a bodily discharge or one with leprosy or one who grasps the distaff or one who falls by the sword or one who is lacking food.”


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So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had killed Asahel, their brother, at Gibeon in the battle.


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David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothing and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” Now King David was following after the bier.


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And they buried Abner at 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 tied and your feet were not in contact with bronze fetters. You have fallen as one who falls before sons of wickedness.” Then all the people wept over him again.


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Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, “ May God punish me if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down.”


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All the people noticed, and it was good in their eyes, as everything that the king did was good in the eyes of all the people.


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Then all the people and all of Israel realized on that day that the king had not desired to kill Abner the son of Ner.


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Then the king said to his servants, “Did you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen today in Israel?


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I am weak today even though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are crueler than I am. May Yahweh pay them back for doing wickedness according to their own wickedness.”


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When the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed and all of Israel was horrified.


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Two of the men, commanders of the raiding bands, were for the son of Saul. The name of one was Baanah, and the name of the other was Recab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the descendants of Benjamin; also, Beeroth was regarded as belonging to Benjamin.


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(Now Jonathan the son of Saul had a son who was crippled in the feet. He was five years old when the message of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse had picked him up and fled. It happened that as she was hurrying away to flee, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.)


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When the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Recab and Baanah, set out, they came at the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Bosheth while he was taking a noontime rest.


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They came as far as the middle of the house as if takers of wheat, and they struck him in the stomach. Then Recab and Baanah his brother escaped.


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When they had come into the house, he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber, and they attacked him and killed him. Then they beheaded him, and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night.


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They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron, and they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life. Yahweh has given to my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his offspring.”


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Then David answered Recab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and he said to them, “ As Yahweh lives, who redeemed my soul from all trouble,


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when the one who told me, “Look, Saul is dead,” thought that he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was as my giving the news back to him.


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How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his house, on his bed! So then, shall I not seek his lifeblood from your hand, so that I may destroy you from the earth?”


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Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them, and they cut off their hands and their feet, and they hung them at the pool at Hebron, but the head of Ish-Bosheth they took and buried in the grave of Abner at Hebron.


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So all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and they said, “Here we are, we are your flesh and blood.


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For some time, when Saul was king over us, you were leading Israel in and out. Yahweh had said to you, ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be the leader over Israel.’ ”


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All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh; then they anointed David as king over Israel.


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He reigned over Judah at Hebron for seven years and six months; and he reigned over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem for thirty-three years.


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The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, “You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot come here.’ ”


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David had said, “On that day when we attack the Jebusites, one must attack the lame and the blind, those who hate the soul of David, by means of the water supply.” For thus the blind and the lame would say, “He cannot come into the house.”


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David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around it from the Millo and inward.


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So Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, along with cedar trees and craftsmen skilled in wood and in stone masonry, and they built a house for David.


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David realized that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel and that he had exalted his kingdom because of his people Israel.


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David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to him.


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These are the names of the ones born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon;


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When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David as king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard and went down to the stronghold.


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And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up to the Philistines? Will you give them into my hands?” Yahweh said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”


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So David came to Baal Perazim and defeated them there; and David said, “Yahweh has burst through my enemies before me like the bursting of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.


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So David inquired of Yahweh, but he said, “You shall not go up. Rather, go around to their rear and come to them from opposite the balsam trees.


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And it shall be that when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then pay attention, for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”


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So David did thus, just as Yahweh had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer.


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David got up and went and all the people who were with him, from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called the name, the name of Yahweh of hosts, upon which the cherubim sit.


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They loaded the ark of God on a new utility cart, and they carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Now Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new utility cart along.


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So they brought it out from 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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Now David and all the house of Israel were dancing before Yahweh, with all kinds of musical instruments made from ash trees, and with zithers, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.


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When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzza reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen had stumbled.


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Then the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Uzza, and God struck him down there because of the indiscretion, and he died there beside the ark of God.


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David was angry because Yahweh had burst out against Uzza, and he called that place Perez-Uzza until this day.


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However, David was not willing to bring the ark of Yahweh to himself, to the city of David, so David caused it to turn to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.


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So the ark of Yahweh remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.


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It was told to King David, “Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that is his 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 jubilation.


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It happened that when the carriers of the ark of Yahweh had marched six steps that he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.


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So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of Yahweh with shouts of joyful acclaim and with the sound of the trumpet.


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It happened that when the ark of Yahweh came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahweh, and she despised him in her heart.


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They brought the ark of Yahweh and set it in its place in the middle of the tent which David had pitched for it. Then David offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the presence of Yahweh.


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When David had finished from the sacrificing of the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts.


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Then he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, from man to woman, to each: one ring-shaped piece of bread, one cake of dates, and one cake of raisins; and all the people went each to his house.


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When David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David. She said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today by uncovering himself before the eyes of the maids of his servants, as the total exposure of a worthless one.”


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So David said to Michal, “ In the presence of Yahweh who chose me over your father and over his household, to appoint me as leader over the people of Yahweh, over Israel, I have celebrated before Yahweh.


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I will demean myself again more than this, and I will be abased in my eyes, but with the maids whom you mentioned, with them I will be honored.”


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It happened that the king settled in his house. (Now Yahweh had given rest to him from all his enemies all around.)


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And the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, please, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is staying in the middle of the tent.”


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“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “ Are you the one to build for me a house for my dwelling?


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For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought up the Israelites from Egypt until this day; rather, I was going about in a tent and in a tabernacle.


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In all of my going about among all the Israelites, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why did you not build me a cedar house?’ ” ’


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So then, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “I took you from the pasture from following the sheep to be a leader over my people, over Israel,


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and I have been with you everywhere you went. I have cut off all of your enemies from in front of you, and I will make a great name for you, as the name of the great ones who are on the earth.


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I will make a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they can dwell in their own place. They will not tremble any longer, and the children of wickedness will not afflict them again, as in the former days.


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In the manner that I appointed judges over my people Israel, I will give you rest from all your enemies. And Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh will build a house for you.


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When your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you who will go out from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.


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I will be a father to him, and he will be a son for me, whom I will punish when he does wrong, with a rod of men and with blows of the human beings.


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Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before you; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”


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Then King David went and sat before Yahweh and said, “Who am I, my lord Yahweh, and what is my house that you have brought me up to this place?


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Still, this was insignificant in your eyes, my lord Yahweh, and also you have spoken about the house of your servant from afar, and this may be the teaching of humans, my lord Yahweh.


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Because of your word and according to your heart, you have done all of this great thing, in order to let your servant know.


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Therefore you are great, my lord Yahweh, for there is no one like you, and there is no god except you, in all that we have heard with our ears.


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Who is like your people, like Israel? Israel is the one nation on earth whose God led them, in order to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to do for you the great and awesome things for your land in the presence of your people whom he redeemed for himself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods.


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You have established your people Israel for yourself as a people forever, and you, O Yahweh, have become their God.


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So then, Yahweh God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do just as you have promised.


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Your name shall be great forever, and they will say, ‘Yahweh of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you.


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For you, O Yahweh of hosts, are God of Israel! You have revealed to the ear of your servant, ‘I will build a house for you’; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.


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Now, my Lord Yahweh, you alone are God, and your words are true. You have promised this good to your servant.


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So then, be content and bless the house of your servant to be forever in your presence, for you, my Lord Yahweh, have spoken, and because of your blessing, may the house of your servant be blessed forever.”


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It happened afterwards that David attacked the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the hands of the Philistines.


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When he defeated Moab, he measured them with the cord, making them lie on the ground. He measured two cords to kill and the third cord to let live. So Moab became servants of David, bringing tribute.


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Then David struck down Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River.


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David captured from him one thousand and seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but from them he spared a hundred chariot horses.


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When Aram of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of Aram.


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David placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, so Aram became servants of David, bringing tribute. Yahweh protected David everywhere he went.


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David took the small round gold shields which had belonged to the servants of Hadadezer, and he brought them to Jerusalem.


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Toi sent Joram his son to King David to greet him and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. He brought with him objects of silver and objects of gold and objects of bronze.


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King David dedicated them also to Yahweh along with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from all of the nations which he had subdued;


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from Aram and from Moab and from the Ammonites and from the Philistines and from Amalek and from the plunder of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah.


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So David made a name for himself when he returned from defeating Aram in the Valley of Salt, eighteen thousand.


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He put garrisons in Edom; all over Edom he put garrisons, and all of Edom became servants of David. Yahweh protected David wherever he went.


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David reigned over all of Israel, and he was administering justice and righteousness for all his people.


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Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were priests.


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Then David said, “ Is there still anyone who is left for the house of Saul that I may show loyal love to him for the sake of Jonathan?”


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Now Saul’s household had a servant whose name was Ziba, so they summoned him to David, and the king asked him, “ Are you Ziba?” He said, “ At your service !”


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Then the king said, “But is there still anyone of Saul’s household that I may show the loyal love of God with him?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in the feet.”


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The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “ He is here in the house of Makir the son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”


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So Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David. And he fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth,” and he said, “ I am ready to serve you.”


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Then David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I will certainly show loyal love to you for the sake of Jonathan your father, and I will restore to you all the lands of Saul your father. And you shall always eat food at my table.”


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Then he did obeisance and said, “What is your servant that you have paid attention to the dead dog like me?”


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David summoned Ziba the servant of Saul and said to him, “All that was Saul’s and all his household I have given to the son of your master.


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You shall till the land for him, you and your sons and your servants; you shall bring in the produce and it shall be food for the son of your master that he may eat. But Mephibosheth the son of your master may always eat food at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty slaves.)


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Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my master the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth was eating at his table as one of the sons of the king.


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Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah, and all of the dwelling of the household of Ziba became servants for Mephibosheth.


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And Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, because he was continually eating at the table of the king, even though he was lame in both of his feet.


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David said, “I will show loyal love with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed loyal love with me.” So David sent to console him concerning his father, by the hand of his servants. And the servants of David came to the land of the Ammonites.


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But the commanders of the Ammonites said to Hanun their master, “ In your opinion, is David honoring your father because he has sent condolences to you? Is it not in order to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it that David sent his servants to you?”


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Then Hanun took the servants of David, and he shaved off half of their beards and cut their garments off in the middle up to their buttocks, then sent them away.


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When they told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain in Jericho until your beards have grown, and then you can return.”


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When the Ammonites saw that they had become odious to David, the Ammonites sent word and hired Aram Beth-Rehob and Aram-Zobah, twenty thousand infantry; and they also hired the king of Maacah, a thousand men, and the men of Tob, twelve thousand men.


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The Ammonites came out and drew up a battle formation at the entrance of the gate, but Aram-Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were alone in the open field.


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When Joab saw that the battle was to be fought on two fronts, he chose from all the members of the elite troops of Israel and lined them up for battle to meet Aram.


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The rest of the army he placed into the hand of his brother Abishai, who arranged them in battle lines to meet the Ammonites.


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Then he said, “If Aram is stronger than I am, you must become my deliverer; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you.


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Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves for the sake of the people and for the sake of the cities of our God. May Yahweh do what is good in his eyes.


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Joab and all the people who were with him moved forward into the battle against Aram, and they fled from before him.


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When the Ammonites saw that Aram had fled, they fled from before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.


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Then Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam. Now Shobach, the commander of the army of Hadadezer, was at their head.


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David was told, so he gathered all Israel and crossed over the Jordan and came to Helam. Aram arranged themselves in battle lines to meet David, and they fought with him.


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And Aram fled before Israel, and David killed from the Arameans seven hundred chariot teams and forty thousand horsemen. He struck down Shobach, the commander of his army, and he died there.


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When all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that he had been defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them, and Aram was afraid to help the Ammonites any longer.


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It came about in the spring, at the time kings go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all of Israel. They ravaged all of the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David was remaining in Jerusalem.


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It happened late one afternoon that David got up from his bed and walked about on the roof of the king’s house, and he saw a woman bathing on her roof. Now the woman was very beautiful.


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David sent and inquired about the woman, and someone said, “ Is this not Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”


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Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) And she returned to her house.


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David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” So Uriah went out from the king’s house, and a gift from the king went out after him.


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But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his master and did not go down to his house.


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They told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” David said to Uriah, “ Are you not coming from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”


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Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are living in the booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping on the surface of the open field; and I, shall I go to my house to eat and to drink and to sleep with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I surely will not do this thing.”


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David said to Uriah, “Remain here today, and tomorrow I will send you away.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem on that day and the next.


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David invited him, and he ate and drank in his presence so that he became drunk, and he went out in the evening to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.


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He had written in the letter, “Put Uriah in the front, in the face of the fiercest fighting, then draw back from behind him so that he may be struck down and die.”


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When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah toward the place which he knew there were valiant warriors.


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The men of the city came out and fought with Joab. Some from the army from the servants of David fell; Uriah the Hittite also died.


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He instructed the messenger, saying, “As you are finishing to speak all the news of the battle to the king,


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if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from atop the wall?


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Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerub-bosheth, if not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from atop the wall and he died at Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’ Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’ ”


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The messenger said to David, “Because the men overpowered us, the men came out to us in the field, but we forced them back to the entrance of the gate.


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The archers shot at your servant from atop the wall, and some of the servants of the king died; your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.”


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Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘ Do not feel badly about this matter; now one and then another the sword will devour. Intensify your attack on the city and overthrow it.’ ” And he encouraged him.


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When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his household, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing which David had done was evil in the eyes of Yahweh.


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So Yahweh sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, “Two men were in a certain city; one was rich and the other was poor.


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but the poor man had nothing except for one small ewe lamb which he had bought. He had nurtured her, and she grew up with him and with his children together. She used to eat from his morsel and drink from his cup, and she used to lie in his lap and became like a daughter for him.


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And a visitor came to the rich man, but he was reluctant to take from his flocks or from his herds to prepare a meal for the traveler when he came to him. So he took the ewe lamb of the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”


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Then the anger of David was kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “ As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this deserves to die !


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Then Nathan said to him, “You are the man! Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I anointed you as king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.


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I gave you the household of your master and the women of your master into your lap. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah; if that had been too little, I would have added to you much more.


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Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to yourself as wife! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites !


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So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!’


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Thus says Yahweh, ‘Look, I am going to raise up evil against you from within your house, and I will take your women before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor, and he shall sleep with your wives in broad daylight.


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Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh!” Nathan said to David, “Yahweh has also forgiven your sin; you shall not die.


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But because you have utterly scorned Yahweh in this matter, the son born for you will certainly die.”


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Then Nathan went to his house, and Yahweh struck the child that the wife of Uriah bore for David, and he became ill.


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David pleaded with God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground.


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The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he was not willing, and he did not eat any food with them.


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It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, when the child was alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, ‘The child is dead’? He may do something evil.”


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When David saw that his servants were whispering together, he realized that the child was dead. Then David said to his servants, “ Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”


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David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went to the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his own house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate.


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Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; now that the child has died, you get up and eat food!”


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He said, “When the child was still alive, I fasted and I wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? Yahweh may have mercy on me that the child will live.’


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But now he is dead. Why should I be fasting? Am I able to return him again? I am going to him, but he cannot return to me.”


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David consoled Bathsheba his wife, and he went to her and slept with her. She bore a son, and he called him Solomon, and Yahweh loved him.


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Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “We have fought against Rabbah, and we captured the city of the waters.


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So then, gather the remainder of the army and encamp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city and my name be proclaimed over it.”


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He took the crown of their king from his head. (Now its weight was a talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it and it was put on David’s head.) He brought out the plunder of the city in great abundance.


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He also brought out the people who were in it and put them to the saws and to the iron picks and to the iron axes, and he sent them to the place of the brickmakers. Thus he used to do to all the cities of the Ammonites, and he and all of the army returned to Jerusalem.


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It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David fell in love with her.


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And Amnon was so frustrated that he felt ill because of Tamar his sister, because she was a virgin, and it was too difficult in Amnon’s eyes to do anything with her.


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Now Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David. (Now Jonadab was a very crafty man.)


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And he said to him, “Why are you so sullen every morning, O son of the king? Will you not tell me?” And Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.”


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Then Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and appear ill. If your father comes to see you, you shall say to him, ‘Please let Tamar my sister come and give me food to eat, and let her prepare the food before my eyes, in order that I may see it and eat from her hand.’ ”


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So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, “Please let Tamar my sister come, and let her bake two cakes before my eyes that I may eat from her hand.”


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So David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare food for him.”


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Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother. Now he was lying down, and she took the dough and kneaded it and made cakes before his eyes, and she baked the cakes.


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Then she took the pan and poured it out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, “Let all the men go out from me.” So all the men went out from him.


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Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food to the private room that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them to Amnon her brother in the private room.


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When she brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister!”


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Then Tamar said to him, “No, my brother! Do not force me, for such a thing has not been done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!


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As for me, where should I take my disgrace? You will be as one of the fools in Israel. So please, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”


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But he was not willing to listen to her voice. He was stronger than she, and he forced her and lay with her.


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Then Amnon hated her very deeply, for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. So Amnon said to her, “Get up and go.”


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She said to him, “No, because this evil in sending me away is greater than the other you have done to me.” But he was not willing to listen to her.


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Then he called his young man who was serving him and said, “Please send this woman from me to the outside, and bolt the door behind her!”


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Now there was a long-sleeved robe on her, for so they clothed the daughters of the king who were virgins, in robes. His servant put her outside, and he bolted the door behind her.


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Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which was on her. She put her hand on her head, and she went away, crying out as she went.


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Absalom her brother said to her, “ Was Amnon your brother with you? But now, my sister, be quiet; he is your brother. Do not take this matter to heart.” So Tamar remained a desolate woman in the house of Absalom her brother.


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Absalom did not speak with Amnon either bad or good, for Absalom hated Amnon over the matter when he raped Tamar his sister.


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About two full years later, Absalom’s shearers were in Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom summoned all the sons of the king.


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Then Absalom went to the king and said, “Look, here are your servant’s shearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant.


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The king said to Absalom, “No my son, not all of us shall go, so that we not be a burden to you.” And he urged him, but he was not willing to go, but he blessed him.


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So Absalom said, “But will you not let Amnon my brother go with us?” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”


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Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Please watch. At the moment the heart of Amnon is tipsy with wine, then I shall say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ and you shall kill him! Don’t be afraid. Is it not I myself who has commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant!


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So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon just as Absalom commanded, and all the sons of the king got up, and each mounted his mule and fled.


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While they were on the way, the message came to David, “Absalom has killed all the sons of the king, and not one of them was left.”


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Then the king rose and tore his garments, and he lay on the ground, and all his servants standing by were tearing their garments.


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Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, “My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, are dead, because only Amnon is dead. Absalom was talking about it, as it was being determined from the day he raped Tamar his sister.


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So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, ‘All the sons of the king are dead,’ for only Amnon alone is dead.”


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So Absalom fled, and the young man who was keeping watch lifted up his eyes and saw, and there were many people coming from the road behind him from the side of the mountain.


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Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the sons of the king have come. According to the word of your servant, so it has come about.”


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When he finished speaking, look, the sons of the king came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also, the king and all his servants wept a very great weeping.


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Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur, the king of Geshur. David mourned over his son day after day.


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So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, “Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself with oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for a long time.


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Then you must go to the king and speak to him according to this word.” Thus Joab put the words in her mouth.


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So the Tekoite woman spoke to the king, and she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance. She said, “Help me, O king!”


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Then the king asked her, “ What do you want?” And she said, “Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead.


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Your servant had two sons, and they both fought in the open field, and there was no one to part them. One struck the other and killed him.


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And look, all of the family has risen up against your servant, and they said, ‘Give up the one who struck his brother, that we may kill him in exchange for the life of his brother whom he murdered. We will also wipe out the heir,’ and so they would put out my embers which remain, by not preserving for my husband a name and a remnant on the face of the earth.”


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Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I myself will give the command concerning you.”


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The Tekoite woman said to the king, “On me, my lord the king, is the guilt, and on the house of my father, but the king on his throne is innocent.”


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Then she said, “Please may the king remember Yahweh your God, to prevent the increase of blood avengers who kill, so that they not wipe out my son.” He said, “ As Yahweh lives, surely not one hair shall fall from your son to the ground.”


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The woman said, “But why have you plotted like this against the people of God? By speaking this word, he is guilty not to bring back his banished one.


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For we must certainly die, and we are as the waters spilled to the ground which cannot be gathered. God will not take a life but devises plans for a banished person not to be cast out from him.


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Now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, because the people made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king, perhaps the king will grant the request of his servant.


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For the king will listen, to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who seeks to destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.’


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Your servant also thought, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring rest, for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, to sense what is good and what is bad.’ May Yahweh your God be with you.”


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The king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not withhold from me a thing which I am about to ask you.” The woman said, “Please let my lord the king speak.”


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The king asked, “ Was the hand of Joab with you in all of this?” The woman answered and said, “ As your soul lives, my lord the king, surely one cannot go to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab himself commanded me, and he put all of these words in the mouth of your servant.


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In order to change the situation, your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord has wisdom, as the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that is on the earth.”


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Then the king said to Joab, “Look, please, I will grant this thing. Go and bring back the young man Absalom.”


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Joab fell with his face to the ground and did obeisance. And he blessed the king, and he said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.”


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The king said, “Let him go over to his house, and he may not see my face.” So Absalom went over to his house, and did not see the face of the king.


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As far as Absalom, there was not a more handsome man in all of Israel to admire so much; from the sole of his foot up to his crown, there was no physical defect on him.


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When he shaved his head, it would happen every year, which he did because it was heavy on him, he would shave it off and weigh the hair of his head: two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.


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Three sons were born to Absalom and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a woman beautiful of appearance.


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So Absalom sent for Joab, in order that he send him to the king, but he was not willing to go to him. He sent again a second time, but he was not willing to go.


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So he said to his servants, “Look at the tract of land of Joab next to mine, for he has barley plants there. Go, set it ablaze with fire.” So the servants of Absalom set the tract of land ablaze with fire.


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Then Joab got up and went to Absalom, to the house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my tract of land ablaze with fire?”


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Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I have sent to you, saying, ‘Come here that I may send you to the king to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.” ’ So then, let me see the face of the king; if there is guilt in me, then let him kill me.”


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So Joab went to the king and he told him. Then he summoned Absalom, and he came to the king, and he bowed down to him with his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed Absalom.


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It happened afterward that Absalom made himself a chariot with horses and fifty men running before him.


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Absalom used to rise early in the morning, and he stood beside the road at the gate; anyone who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for judgment Absalom would call to him and say, “ Where 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, “Look, your case is good and right, but for you there is no hearing with the king.”


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Then Absalom would say, “ Oh, that someone would appoint me as judge in the land, that anyone might come to me who had a legal dispute or a case, and I would give him justice.”


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It happened whenever anyone drew near to do obeisance to him, that he would stretch his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.


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Absalom did like this to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.


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It happened at the end of four years that Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to Yahweh in Hebron,


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for your servant made a vow while I was staying in Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘ If Yahweh will indeed let me return to Jerusalem, then I will worship Yahweh.’ ”


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Then Absalom sent scouts throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “When you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall shout ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron!’ ”


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Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything.


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Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the advisor of David, from his city Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people were going and increasing with Absalom.


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Then the messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”


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Then David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Get up and let us flee, for there will be no escape for us from Absalom! Hurry to go, otherwise he will come quickly and overtake us! And he will bring disaster on us and evil! He will attack the city with the edge of the sword!”


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Then the servants of the king said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king chooses, your servants are ready to act !”


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The king went out with all his household following him, but the king left behind ten concubines to look after the house.


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All his servants were passing by him: all of the Kerethites and all of the Pelethites and all of the Gittites—six hundred men who had followed him from Gath—passing before the king.


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The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also coming with us? Return and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner; moreover, you are an exile. You are far from your place.


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Yesterday when you came and today, I have caused you to wander by going with us. Now I am going to where I am going; return and let your brothers return. May loyal love and faithfulness be with you.”


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But Ittai answered the king and said, “ As Yahweh lives and my lord the king lives, surely in the place wherever my lord the king shall be, if for death or if for life, surely there your servant will be.”


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Then David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed over and all his men and all of the little children who were with him.


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All of the land was weeping with a loud voice as all the people were passing by and the king was crossing through the Wadi Kidron, and all the people were passing on the road to the wilderness.


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Suddenly Zadok was there, and all of the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people passed out of the city.


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The king said to Zadok, “Let the ark of God return to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Yawheh, he will let me return and let me see him in his dwelling place.


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But if he says, ‘I take no pleasure in you,’ then I am ready. Let him do to me that which is good in his eyes.


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Then the king said to Zadok the priest, “ Are you a seer? Return to the city in peace, with Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, your two sons with you.


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Now David was going up on the Ascent of the Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered and going barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered their head and wept as they went.


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Now David was told, “Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom.” Then David said, “Please frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel, O Yahweh.”


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It happened that as David was coming up to the summit where he used to worship God, suddenly Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him. His coat was torn and dirt was on his head.


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but if you want to return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I am your servant, O king. I used to be a servant of your father, but from then and now I will be your servant,’ then you can frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel for me.


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Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be with you there? It shall be that all the words you hear from the house of the king you shall tell Zadok and Abiathar the priests.


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Look, there with them are their two sons, Ahimaaz of Zadok and Jonathan of Abiathar. You shall send to me by means of them all the words that you hear.”


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Now David passed a little from beyond the summit, and suddenly Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him with a pair of saddled donkeys; on them were two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred raisin cakes, with a hundred summer fruits and a skin of wine.


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The king said to Ziba, “ What do you want to accomplish by bringing these?” And Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; the bread and the summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for the faint in the wilderness to drink.


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Then the king said, “Where is the son of your lord?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is living in Jerusalem for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel shall return the kingdom of my father to me.’ ”


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The king said to Ziba, “Look, all that was Mephibosheth’s is yours.” Ziba said, “I hereby do obeisance; may I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.”


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King David came up to Bahurim and suddenly a man from there was coming out from the family of the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei the son of Gera. He was cursing as he came out.


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And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David and at all the people and at all the mighty warriors on his right and on his left.


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Yahweh has returned on you all the blood of the household of Saul whom you have supplanted as king, and Yahweh has given the kingship into the hand of Absalom your son. Look, you are in disaster for 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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The king said, “ What do we have in common, sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because Yahweh has said to him ‘Curse David,’ who can say, “Why have you done this?”


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David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Look, my son who came out of my loins is seeking my life. Now as far as this Benjaminite, leave him alone and let him curse, for Yahweh has spoken to him.


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Then David and his men went on the road, with Shimei going on the side of the hill beside him, cursing as he went. He threw stones beside him and threw dust in the air.


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Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, had come to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.


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When Hushai the Arkite the friend of David came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “ Long live the king, long live the king!”


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Absalom said to Hushai, “This is your loyal love with your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?”


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Then Hushai said to Absalom, “No, rather, whom Yahweh and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, to him I will be, and with him I will remain.


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Furthermore, for whom have I served? Is it not in the presence of his son that I have served before your father? So shall I serve you !”


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And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go to the concubines of your father whom he left behind to watch over the house, then all of Israel will hear that you made yourself odious to your father, and all of your followers will be motivated !”


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Then they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he went in to the concubines of his father before the eyes of all Israel.


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The counsel that Ahithophel gave in those days was regarded as when a man inquired of the word of God, so all the counsel of Ahithophel was esteemed both by David and by Absalom.


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Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue after David tonight.


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I will come upon him while he is weary and weak. I will startle him, and all of the people who are with him will flee. Then I will strike down the king while he is alone.


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Then I will return all the people to you; when all have returned, the man whom you are seeking will be dead, but all the people will be safe.”


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Then Absalom said, “Please call also for Hushai the Arkite, and let us hear what he has to say also.”


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So Hushai came to Absalom, who said to him, “Shall we do according to this word that Ahithophel has spoken? If not, then you tell us.”


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Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty warriors and they are enraged as a bear robbed of her offspring in the field. Your father is a man of war, so he will not spend the night with the troops.


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Now he has hidden himself in one of the caves or in one of the places. At the moment he falls on them the first time, whoever hears the report will say, ‘There has been a defeat among the people who follow after Absalom.’


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And he is also a valiant warrior, whose heart is like the heart of the lion. He will certainly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty warrior and those who are with him are valiant warriors.


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I give the advice that all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba should be completely gathered to you, as the sand which is on the seashore for abundance, with you personally going into the battle.


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Then we will come to him in one of the places where he may be found, and we shall come upon him as the dew falls on the ground. He and all the men who are with him will not survive, not even one!


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Even if he withdraws to a city, all Israel will bring up ropes to that city, and they will drag him away to the valley until there is not even a pebble to be found.”


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Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” (Now Yahweh had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel in order for Yahweh to bring misery upon Absalom).


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Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “ Thus and so Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, but thus and so I have advised.


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So then, send quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the fords of the wilderness! Moreover, by all means cross over lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’ ”


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Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel, so a servant girl used to go and tell them, then they would go and tell King David, for they were not able to be seen coming to the city.


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But a young man saw them and told Absalom, so both of them went quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim. Now he had a well in his courtyard, so they went down there.


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Then the woman took and spread a covering over the opening of the well; then she spread out dried grain on it, so nothing was discovered.


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When the servants of Absalom came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And she said to them, “They crossed over the brook of water.” So they searched but could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.


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After they left, they came up from the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Set out and cross over the water quickly, for thus Ahithophel has advised against you.”


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So David and all the people who were with him set out, and they crossed over the Jordan until morning light until there was no one missing who had not crossed over the Jordan.


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When Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled the donkey, and he set out and went up to his house in his city. After he set his house in order, he hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors.


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Now David had come to Mahanaim, and Absalom had crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.


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Absalom had appointed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash the sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab.


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Just as David had arrived in Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites and Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim


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brought beds and basins and objects of pottery, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,


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honey, curds, sheep, cheese, and cattle for David and for the people who were with him to eat. For they had thought, “The troops are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”


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Then David mustered the people who were with him, and he appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.


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David sent forth a third of the troops under the command of Joab, and a third under the command of Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the remaining third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I, even I, will certainly go out with you.”


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Then the troops said, “You will not go out, for if we must flee, then they will not care about us; even if half of us die, they will not care about us, but now, you are like ten thousand of us. And so then, it is better for us that you be in the city to help.”


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The king said to them, “I will do what seems good in your eyes.” So the king stood at the side of the gate while all of the troops went out by hundreds and by thousands.


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The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “With respect to the young man Absalom, deal gently for me.” And all the troops heard when the king ordered all of the commanders concerning the matter of Absalom.


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The army of Israel was defeated there before the servants of David, and the defeat there was great on that day: twenty thousand.


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The battle there was spreading over the surface of all the land, and the forest devoured more among the army than the sword did on that day.


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Absalom was found in the presence of the servants of David as he was riding on the mule. The mule went under the thicket of the great oak tree, and his head was caught in the tree. He was left hanging between heaven and earth, and the mule which was under him went on.


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When a certain man saw it, he told Joab, and he said, “Look, I saw Absalom hanging in the oak tree!”


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Then Joab said to the man who was telling him, “Look, if you saw, why did you not strike him down to the ground there? I would have gladly given you ten pieces of silver and a leather belt.”


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The man said to Joab, “ Even if I felt the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my palms, I would not have sent my hand against the son of the king, for in our ears the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Whoever you may be, protect the young man Absalom.’


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If I had dealt treacherously against his life, and there is not any matter hidden from the king, you would have presented yourself aloof.”


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Joab said, “No longer will I wait in your presence.” Then he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree.


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Then ten of the young men who bore the weapons of Joab surrounded him and struck and killed Absalom.


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Then Joab blew on the trumpet and the troops returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab kept back the troops.


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They took Absalom and they threw him into the large pit in the forest and raised a very great heap of stones over him. Then all of Israel fled, each to his tent.


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(Now Absalom had taken and set up for himself in his lifetime a stone pillar that is in the valley of the king, because he said, “I have no son in order to remember my name,” and he called the stone pillar by his name. It is called the monument of Absalom until this day).


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Now Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and bring the good news to the king that Yahweh has vindicated him from the hand of his enemies.”


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Joab said to him, “You will not be a man bringing good news this day! You may bring good news on another day, but today you will not be bringing good news because the king’s son is dead.”


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Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen”; then the Cushite bowed down to Joab and ran off.


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Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again said to Joab, “ Come what may, please let me also run after the Cushite.” Joab asked, “Why are you wanting to run, my son, when for you there is no messenger’s reward?”


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“ Come what may, I want to run.” He said to him, “Run,” so Ahimaaz ran on the road on the plain, and he passed the Cushite.


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Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the sentinel went up to the roof of the gate by the wall and he lifted up his eyes and watched, and look, a man was running by himself.


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The sentry called and told the king, and the king said, “If he is alone, good news is in his mouth.” He kept coming closer.


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Then the sentinel saw another man running, so the sentinel called to the gatekeeper and said, “Look, a man running alone.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.”


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The sentinel said, “I am seeing that the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zakok.” The king said, “He is a good man; he will come, for good news.”


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Then Ahimaaz called and said to the king, “Peace.” He bowed down to the king with his face to the ground, and he said, “May Yahweh your God be blessed, who has delivered the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.”


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The king said, “ Is it peace for the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz said, “I saw the great commotion when Joab the servant of the king sent your servant, but I do not know what it was all about.”


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Suddenly the Cushite arrived and said, “May my lord the king receive the good news, for Yahweh has vindicated you today from the power of all who stood up against you.”


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The king said to the Cushite, “ Is it peace for the young man Absalom?” Then the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you to harm you be like the young man!”


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The king was upset, and he went up to the upper room of the gate and wept. He said as he went, “My son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom. If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son.”


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so the victory turned to mourning on that day for all the army, because they had heard that day, “The king is grieving over his son.”


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The army came secretly into the city on that day because the army was disgraced when they fled in the battle,


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and because the king had covered his face and cried with a loud voice, “My son, Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son.”


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Then Joab came to the king’s house and said, “Today you have humiliated the faces of all of your servants who have saved your life this day, and the life of your sons and your daughters, the life of your wives, and the life of your concubines,


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by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you. Indeed, you have made clear this day that you have no regard for your commanders or officers, for I have realized today that were Absalom alive, and all of us were dead, then that would have been right in your eyes!


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So then, get up and go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by Yahweh, if you do not go out, no man will lodge this night with you, and this disaster will be greater for you than any disaster that has come upon you from your childhood until now!”


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So the king got up and he sat in the gate, and they told all the army, “Look, the king is sitting in the gate.” Then all the army came before the king; whereas all of Israel had fled, each to his tent.


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Then it happened that all the people were disputing among all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and he saved us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.


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Now Absalom whom we anointed as king over us has died in the battle; so then, why are you taking no action to restore the king?”


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Then King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah: ‘Why are you last to bring back the king to his house? The talk of all Israel has come to the king in his house.


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My brothers, you are my bones and you are my flesh. Why should you be the last to bring back the king?’


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To Amasa you shall say: ‘ Are you not my bones and my flesh? May God punish me if you are not the commander of my army before me forever, in place of Joab.’ ”


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So he turned the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and they sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your servants.”


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Then the king returned and he came to the Jordan; Judah had come to Gilgal to come to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.


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Then Shimei the son of Gera, the son of the Benjaminite, who was from Bahurim quickly came down with the men of Judah to meet King David,


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and a thousand men were with him from Benjamin. Too, Ziba the servant of the household of Saul and fifteen of his sons and twenty of his servants were with him, and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.


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The crossing took place to bring the household of the king over and to do good in his eyes. Then Shimei the son of Gera fell before the king when he crossed over the Jordan,


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and he said to the king, “May not my lord hold me guilty, and may you not remember how your servant did wrong on the day that my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, by taking it to heart!


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For your servant knows that I have sinned; look, I have come this day as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”


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Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded and said, “Because of this, should not Shimei be put to death, for he cursed the anointed one of Yahweh?”


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Then David said, “What is it to me or to you, sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary today? Should anyone be put to death in Israel? Do I not know today that I am king over Israel?”


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Now, Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; he had not taken care of his feet nor trimmed his moustache nor washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he came back in peace.


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It happened that when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not come with me, Mephibosheth?”


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Then he said, “My lord the king, my servant deceived me, for your servant had said, ‘Let me saddle the donkey that I may ride on her and go with the king,’ for your servant is lame.


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But he slandered against your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like the angel of God; do as you see fit..”


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For there was no one in all the house of my father who were not doomed to death before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. Do I have any righteousness any longer except to cry out to the king?”


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Then the king said to him, “Why should you speak any more about the matter? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.”


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Then Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take the whole thing, since my lord the king has come safely to his house.”


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Then Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and crossed with the king over the Jordan to escort him through the Jordan.


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Now Barzillai was very old, eighty years old. Now he had provided the king with food while he was staying at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man.


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The king said to Barzillai, “You cross over with me, and I will provide for you to dwell with me in Jerusalem.”


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Then Barzillai said to the king, “What are the days of the years of my life, that I should go with the king to Jerusalem?


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I am eighty years old today. Can I discern between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be a burden any longer to my lord the king?


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Your servant shall go over the Jordan with the king a little way, but why should the king recompense me with this reward?


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Please let your servant return, and let me die in my city in the tomb of my father and my mother. Here is your servant Kimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him that which is good in your eyes.”


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The king said, “Let Kimham go over with me, and I will do for him the good in your eyes, and all that you desire of me I will do for you.”


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Then all the people crossed over the Jordan, and the king crossed and kissed Barzillai and blessed him; then he returned to his place.


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The king went over to Gilgal, and Kimham went over with him. All the people of Judah went over with the king, and half of the people of Israel too.


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Suddenly, all the men of Israel were coming to the king. They said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, with all the men of David?”


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Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is my close relative! Why are you this angry over this matter? Have we by any means eaten anything from the king? Did we take by any means anything that was not ours?”


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Then the people of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “I have ten times as much in the king, moreover in David I have more than you. Why did you treat me with contempt by not giving me first chance to bring back my king?” But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the word of the men of Israel.


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Now a man of wickedness was found there whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. He blew the horn and said, “There is no share for us in David, and there is no inheritance for us in the son of Jesse; each to his tents, O Israel!”


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Then all the men of Israel went up from following after David, following instead after Sheba the son of Bicri, but the men of Judah stuck to their king from the Jordan up to Jerusalem.


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David went up to his house in Jerusalem, then the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to look after the house, and he put them under confinement. However, he provided for them, but he did not sleep with them. So they were confined until the day of their death, like a lifetime of widowhood.


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Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon for me the men of Judah within three days, and be here yourself.”


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So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he tarried more than the appointed time which he had set for him.


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Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bicri will do us more harm than Absalom. You take the servants of your lord and pursue after him, lest he find fortified cities for himself and escape from us.”


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Then the men of Joab, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty warriors went out after him; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Bicri.


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They were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, and Amasa came before them. Joab was dressed in his military clothing, with a utility belt on him and a sword strapped to his waist in its scabbard. Now he went out, and it fell out.


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Then Joab said to Amasa, “Is it peace, O you my brother?” Then the right hand of Joab took hold of the beard of Amasa as if to kiss him.


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Now Amasa was not on his guard against the sword that was in Joab’s hand, and he struck him with it into the stomach, and his entrails poured out to the ground. He did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bicri.


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A young man stood over him, from the young men of Joab, and he said, “Whoever takes delight in Joab and whoever is for David, follow after Joab.”


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Now Amasa was wallowing in the blood in the middle of the highway; when the man saw that all the people stood there, he turned Amasa over from the highway into the field, and he threw a garment over him because he had seen that all who had come by him had stopped.


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After he was removed from the highway, all the men passed by after Joab to pursue after Sheba the son of Bicri.


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(He had passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maacah; now all of the Berites had been treated badly, so they also followed after him.)


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And they came and besieged him in Abel Beth Maacah. They threw up a siege ramp against the city, and they stood against the ramparts. And all the army who were with Joab were battering to cause the wall to fall.


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Then a wise woman from the city called out, “Listen, listen! Please speak to Joab to come near here so that I may speak to you.”


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Then he came near to her, and the woman asked, “ Are you Joab?” And he said, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” He said, “I am listening.”


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Then she said, “In former times, they would always say, ‘By all means, let them inquire in Abel,’ and so they settled things.


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I am one of the faithful representatives of Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow the inheritance of Yahweh?”


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Then Joab answered and said, “Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow or I should destroy.


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That is not the matter. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name is Sheba the son Bicri, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Give only him to us, and I will depart from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “Look, his head is being thrown down to you over the wall.”


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The woman went to all of the people with her wise plan, so they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bicri and threw it to Joab. Then he blew the horn and dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.


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Now Joab was over all the army of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Carites and over the Pelethites.


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There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David inquired of Yahweh, and Yahweh said, “The bloodguilt is on Saul and on his household, because he killed the Gibeonites.”


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So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not from the Israelites; they were from the remainder of the Amorites. Now the Israelites had sworn to them, but Saul tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah.


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So David asked the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you, and with what can I make amends that you may bless the inheritance of Yahweh?”


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Then the Gibeonites said to him, “ It is not a matter for us of silver or gold with Saul or with his household. It is not for us to put to death anyone in Israel.” He asked, “What are you saying that I should do for you all?”


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Then they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who plotted against us so that we were destroyed from existing in all of the territory of Israel,


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let seven men from his sons be given over to us, and we will execute them before Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen one of Yahweh.” Then the king said, “I will give them over.”


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But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the sworn oath of Yahweh which was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.


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So the king took two of the sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, namely Armoni and Mephibosheth, and five of the sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.


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He gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they executed them on the mountain in the presence of Yahweh, and the seven fell together. Now they were put to death in the days of the harvest, at the beginning of the harvest of barley.


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Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took the sackcloth, and she spread it for herself on the rock at the beginning of the harvest until water gushed forth on them from heaven, but she did not allow the birds of heaven to rest on them by day nor the animals of the field by night.


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So David left and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the rulers of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines hung them when the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.


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He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of the executed.


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And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin at Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. They did all that the king had commanded, and afterward God was entreated for the land.


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There was war again for the Philistines with Israel, and David and his servants with him went down, and they fought the Philistines, and David grew weary.


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Now Yishbi in Nob, who was among the descendents of Raphah (now the weight of his spearhead was three hundredweight of bronze, and he was newly armed), said that he would kill David.


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But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and he attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall not go out with us any longer to the battle, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel.”


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It happened afterward that there was again battle at Gob with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph who was among the descendants of the Raphah.


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There was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. And Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam of a weaver.


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Once again there was battle at Gath, and there was a man of great size. The fingers of his hand and the toes of his feet were six and six, twenty-four in number. He was also born to the Raphah.


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These four were born for the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.


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Then David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song, on the day Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.


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I take refuge in God, my rock, my shield, and the strength of my salvation. My stronghold and my refuge, O my savior, you will save me from violence!


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In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and to my God I called. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry for help was to his ears.


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Smoke went up from his nostrils and fire from his mouth. Burning coals devoured, they burned from him.


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Then the channels of water of the sea were exposed, the foundations of the world, at the rebuke of Yawheh, from the blast of the breath of his nostrils.


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Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.


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This God, his way is blameless; the promise of Yahweh is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.


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You have girded me with physical strength for the battle; you caused those who rose up against me to kneel under me.


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I beat them fine, like the dust of the earth; like the mire of the streets, I crushed them, I stamped them down.


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You delivered me from the strife of my people; you preserved me as the head of the nations. A people I had not known served me.


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He brings me out from my enemies, and from those who rose up against me you lift me up, and from men of violence you rescue me.


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He makes great salvation for his king and shows loyal love to his anointed one, David and to his descendants forever.”


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These are the last words of David, the declaration of David the son of Jesse, and the declaration of the man exalted by the Most High, the anointed one of the God of Jacob and the darling of the songs of Israel.


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The God of Israel said to me, the rock of Israel has spoken; ‘He who rules over mankind rules righteously, in the fear of God.


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Like the light of the morning when the sun rises, shining with no clouds, bringing vegetation from the earth apart from rain.’


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Yet not so is my house with God, for he made an everlasting covenant for me, arranging everything. He has secured all my deliverance, and all my desire he will cause to happen.


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But evil persons are like thorns cast aside; all of them, because they cannot be picked up in the hand.


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And if a man wants to touch them, he must use an iron instrument or the shaft of a spear; then they are consumed entirely with fire on the spot.”


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These are the names of the mighty warriors who were David’s: Josheb-Basshebeth a Tahkemonite was chief of three officers; first Adino, whose spear was against eight hundred slain on one occurrence.


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Next to him Eleazar, the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite, was among the three mighty warriors with David when they defied the Philistines and they gathered there for the battle and the men of Israel withdrew.


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He stood up and struck down the Philistines until his hand grew tired and his hand clung to the sword, and Yahweh brought about a great victory on that day. Then the army returned back to him only for stripping the dead.


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Next to him was Shamma, the son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, a plot of the field was there filled with lentils, and the army fled there from the presence of the Philistines.


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But he took a stand in the middle of the plot of land and defended it. He killed the Philistines, and Yahweh brought about a great victory.


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Then three of the thirty leaders went down and came to David at the time of the harvest to the cave of Adullam, while a group of the Philistines were camping in the valley of the Rephaim.


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Now at that time, David was in the stronghold, and a garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem at that same time.


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David said longingly, “ Oh that someone would bring me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate.”


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So three of the mighty warriors broke into the camp of the Philistines, and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was at the gate, and they carried it and brought it to David. But he was not willing to drink it, but poured it out to Yahweh.


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He said, “Far be it from me before Yahweh that I should do this. Is this not the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty warriors did.


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Now Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was himself the leader of the thirty. He was wielding his spear against three hundred slain and gained a name among the thirty.


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Among the thirty, is it not that he was honored and became a commander for them? But he did not come up to the three.


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Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of Ish-Hai, was a great man of deeds from Kabzeel. He struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.


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He also killed a good-looking Egyptian man, in whose hand was a spear. He went down against him with the staff and snatched the spear from the hand of the Egyptian and killed him with his spear.


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These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did and gained a name for himself among the three mighty warriors.


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He was honored more than the thirty, but he did not come up to the three. David appointed him in charge of his bodyguard.


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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 Yahweh was angry with Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.”


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The king said to Joab, the commander of the army who was with him: “Please go about through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people that I may know the number of the people.”


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Then Joab said to the king, “May Yahweh your God increase the people a hundred times what they are as the eyes of my lord the king are seeing. But my lord the king, why does he desire this thing?”


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But the word of the king prevailed over Joab and over the commanders of the army, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to count the people of Israel.


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They crossed over the Jordan and camped at Aroer to the south of the city, which was in the middle of the wadi of Gad, and up to Jazer.


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Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi. They came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon


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and came to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the Negev of Judah at Beersheba.


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They went about through all the land, and they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.


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Then Joab gave the number of the counting of the people to the king. Israel was eight hundred thousand valiant warriors wielding the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand.


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The heart of David struck him after he had counted the people, and David said to Yahweh, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done! So then, O Yahweh, please forgive the guilt of your servant because I have acted very foolishly.”


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When David got up in the morning, the word of Yahweh came to Gad the prophet, the seer of David, saying,


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“Go and speak to David, ‘Thus says Yahweh, three things I am laying on you; choose for yourself one of them and I will do it to you.’ ”


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Then Gad came to David, and he told him and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine in the land come to you? Or three months of your fleeing from your enemies while he is pursuing you? Or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must return to the one who sent me a word.”


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Then David said to Gad, “I am greatly distressed. Please let us fall into the hand of Yahweh, because he is great in his compassion; but into the hand of man don’t let me fall.”


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Then Yahweh sent a plague into Israel from the morning until the agreed time, and from the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men died.


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When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, “Enough, now relax your hand.” Now the angel of Yahweh was at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.


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David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel destroying among the people, and he said, “Look, I have sinned and I have done wrong, but these sheep, what did they do? Please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father.”


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Then Gad came to David on that same day and said to him, “Go up and erect an altar to Yahweh at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”


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Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming over to him, so Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.


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Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy from you the threshing floor, to build an altar to Yahweh who brought a halt to the plague on the people.”


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Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer what is good in his eyes. Look, here are the cattle for the burnt offering and the threshing sledge and the yokes of the oxen for the firewood.


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All of this Araunah hereby gives to the king.” Then Araunah said to the king, “May Yahweh your God respond favorably for you.”


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Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price; I don’t want to offer to Yahweh my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty shekels of silver.


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David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to his prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.


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Now King David had become old, advanced in years, and they covered him with garments, but he was not warm.


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His servants said to him, “Let them search for a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her stand before the king. Let her be of use for him, and let her lie in your lap that my lord the king may be warm.”


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So they sought a beautiful young woman in all the territory of Israel, and they found Abishag the Shunnamite and brought her to the king.


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Now the young woman was very beautiful; she was of use for the king, and she served him, but the king did not have sexual relations with her.


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Now Adonijah the son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying, “I will be king,” so he prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men running before him.


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His father did not rebuke him at any time by saying, “Why did you do so?” Now he was also very handsome of appearance; she had borne him after Absalom.


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He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported Adonijah.


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But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty warriors were David’s; they were not with Adonijah.


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And Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened animals near the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel. He invited all of his brothers, the sons of the king, and all the men of Judah, the servants of the king.


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Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, but our lord David does not know?


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So then, come, let me advise you please, that you may save your life and the life of your son, Solomon.


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Come, go to King David and say to him, ‘Have you not, my lord the king, sworn to your servant, “Surely Solomon your son shall become king after me. And he will sit on my throne”? But why is Adonijah king?’


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While you are still there speaking with the king, I will enter after you, and I will confirm your words.”


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So Bathsheba went to the king in the private room. Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunnamite was attending the king.


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She said to him, “My lord, you swore by Yahweh your God to your servant, ‘Solomon your son surely shall become king after me, and he will sit upon my throne!’


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He has sacrificed oxen and sheep and fattened animals in abundance, and he has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he did not invite.


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But as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all of Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.


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It shall be that when my lord the king sleeps with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be considered as sinners.”


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They told the king, “Nathan the prophet is here.” He came into the presence of the king and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.


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Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne’?


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“For he went down today and sacrificed oxen, sheep, and fattened animals in abundance. He invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and look, they are eating and drinking before him. They have also said, “Long live King Adonijah!


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But me, your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Solomon your servant he did not invite.


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If it was from my lord the king that this thing has happened, then all is well, but if not, you must let your servants know who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.”


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Then King David answered and said, “Summon Bathsheba for me.” Then she came before the king and stood in his presence.


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surely as I swore to you by Yahweh the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall surely be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ surely I shall do so this very day.”


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Then Bathsheba knelt with her face to the ground and did obeisance to the king, and she said, “May my lord, King David, live forever.”


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Then King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,” and they came before the king.


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The king said to them, “Take with you all the servants of your lord, and let them make Solomon my son ride on my mule, and bring him down to Gihon.


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Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Blow on the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’


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Then you shall go up after him, and let him come and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place. I have appointed him to be leader over Israel and Judah.”


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Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! So may Yahweh, the God of my lord the king, confirm it!


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As Yahweh was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”


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Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites went down, and they let Solomon ride on the mule of King David, and they brought him to Gihon.


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Then Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent, and he anointed Solomon. They blew on the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”


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All the people went up after him, and the people were playing on the flutes and rejoicing with great joy, and the earth shook with their noise.


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And Adonijah and all the invited guests who were with him heard it. Now they were finished eating when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet and said, “ Why is there such a noise in the city? ”


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While he was still speaking, suddenly Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Adonijah said, “Come, for you are a man of valor, and you bring good news.”


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He sent Zadok the priest with the king, and Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites; they made him ride on the king’s mule.


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Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him as king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing. The city has gone wild; this is the sound which you heard.


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The servants of the king also came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘Your God has made the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than your throne!’ So the king worshiped on the bed.


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What is more, the king said, ‘May Yahweh the God of Israel be blessed, who has given this day one sitting on my throne, and my eyes are seeing it !’ ”


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Solomon was told, “Look, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, and he has grasped the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will surely not kill his servant with the sword!’ ”


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Solomon said, “If he is a son of noble character, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, but if evil is found in him, then he will die.”


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Then King Solomon sent and brought him down from upon the altar. He came and did obeisance to King Solomon. Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”


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You shall keep the charge of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his testimonies, as are written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and everywhere you turn,


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so that Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed of their way, to walk before me in faithfulness, with all their heart and with all their soul, no man of yours will be cut off from the throne of Israel.’ ”


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“Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me when he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether, and he murdered them and put the blood of war in a time of peace. He put the blood of war on the leather belt that was on his waist and on the sandals which were on his feet.


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You must act according to your wisdom, but you must not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace.


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Regarding the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, you shall do loyal love and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother.


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And look, Shimei the son of Gera the son of the Benjaminite from Bahurim is with you. Now he cursed me severely when I went to Mahanaim, but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, so I swore to him by Yahweh, ‘I surely will not kill you with the sword.’


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So then, do not leave him unpunished, for you are a wise man, and you will know what you must do to him. You must bring his grey hair down to Sheol with blood.”


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The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.


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Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she said, “ Are you coming in peace?” He said, “Peace.”


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He said, “You know that the kingship was mine and that all Israel had set their face toward me as king, but the kingship turned around and became my brother’s, for it was from Yahweh for him to have it.


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He said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, so that he will give to me Abishag the Shunnamite as wife.”


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Bathsheba came to King Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonijah, and the king got up to meet her, bowed down to her, and then sat on his throne. Then he set up a throne for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right.


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She said, “I have one small request I am asking from you. Do not refuse me.” The king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”


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King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Why are you asking Abishag the Shunnamite for Adonijah? Ask for him also the kingdom, for he is my brother, older than I; and ask for him also Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”


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Then King Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “Thus may God do to me and thus may he add, if Adonijah hasn’t spoken this thing at the expense of his life.


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So then, as Yahweh lives, who has established me and seated me on the throne of my father David and who has established for me a dynasty as he promised, then surely Adonijah will be put to death today.”


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To Abiathar the priest, the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your field, for you deserve to die, but on this day I will not kill you, for you carried the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you endured hardship in all the hardship that my father endured.”


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So Solomon banished Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, thus fulfilling the word which Yahweh had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.


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When the message came to Joab (now Joab had supported Adonijah but had not supported Absalom), he fled to the tent of Yahweh and grasped the horns of the altar.


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It was told to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Yahweh and was beside the altar. So Solomon sent word to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go and fall upon him.”


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So Benaiah went to the tent of Yahweh, and he said to him, “Thus says the king: ‘Come out.’ ” And he said, “No, for I want to die here.” So Benaiah returned a word to the king, saying, “Thus Joab spoke, and thus he answered me.”


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Then the king said to him, “Do as he spoke; fall upon him and bury him, and so you shall remove the innocent blood that Joab shed from on me and from on the house of my father.


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Yahweh will return his blood on his head, because he fell upon two men, more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with the sword, even though my father did not know it; namely Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.


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And their blood will return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David and his descendants and for his house and his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.”


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So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, and he fell on him and killed him, and he was buried in his house in the wilderness.


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Then the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.


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Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and he said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but you must not go out anywhere whatsoever from there.


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It shall happen that on the day you go out and cross over the Wadi Kidron, know for certain that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your head.”


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Shimei said to the king, “The word is good that my lord the king has spoken to me; thus will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.


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It happened that at the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves fled to Achish, son of Maacah, the king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, “Your slaves are here in Gath.”


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So Shimei got up and saddled his donkey, and he went to Gath, to Achish, to search for his slaves. So Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.


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the king sent and summoned Shimei, and he said to him, “Did I not make you swear by Yahweh? I warned you, saying, ‘On the day you go out and you go anywhere whatsoever, know for certain that you will surely die.’ And you said to me, ‘The word is good; I accept.’


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Then the king said to Shimei, “You know all the evil which your heart knows, what you did to David my father. Now Yahweh will return the evil on your head,


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but King Solomon will be blessed and the throne of David will be established before Yahweh forever.”


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Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him, and he died. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.


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Solomon intermarried with Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and he took the daughter of Pharaoh and brought her to the city of David until he finished building his house, the house of Yahweh, and the walls of Jerusalem all around.


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But the people were sacrificing on the high places, for the house for the name of Yahweh had not yet been built in those days.


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Solomon loved Yahweh, by walking in the statutes of David his father; only he was sacrificing and offering incense on the high places.


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So the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice, for the great high place was there. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.


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Yahweh appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night, and God said, “Ask what I should give to you.”


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Then Solomon said, “You have shown great loyal love with your servant David my father, as he walked before you in faithfulness and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you. You have shown for him this great loyal love, and you have given a son to him who is sitting on his throne as it is this day.


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So then, O Yahweh, you are my God. You have made your servant king in place of David my father though I am a young boy. I do not know going out or coming in.


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Your servant is in the middle of your people whom you have chosen; a great people who cannot be counted or numbered because of abundance.


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Give to your servant a listening heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad, because who is able to judge this, your difficult people?”


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And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and you did not ask for yourself a long life and you did not ask riches for yourself and you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you have asked for yourself the ability to make wise judgments;


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behold, I do hereby do according to your word. I hereby give you a wise and discerning heart; there was no one like you before you, nor afterwards will one like you arise.


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Too, what you have not asked I give to you: both riches and honor, so that no man among the kings will be like you all of your days.


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If you will walk in my ways by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David your father walked, then I will lengthen your days.”


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Then Solomon awoke, and look, it was a dream, and he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and he offered burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings, and he held a feast for all of his servants.


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The one woman said, “Please my lord, I and this woman are living in one house, and I gave birth, with her in the house.


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It happened on the third day after my giving birth, this woman also gave birth, and we were together. There was not anyone with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house.


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So she got up in the middle of the night, and she took my son from beside me while your servant was asleep, and she put him in her lap, and she put her dead son in my lap.


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When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead! When I looked closely at him in the morning, behold, it was not my son whom I had borne.”


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Then the other woman said, “No, for my son is the living one, and your son is the dead one.” The other kept on saying, “No, for your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one,” and so they argued in front of the king.


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Then the king said, “This one is saying, ‘This is my son, the living one, but your son is the dead one,’ and the other one keeps saying, ‘But no! Your son is the dead one, and my son is living!’ ”


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Then the king said, “Divide the living child into two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”


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Then the woman whose son was the living one spoke to the king because her compassion was aroused for her son, and she said, “Please, my lord, give her the living child, but certainly do not kill him!” The other one was saying, “As for me, so for you! Divide him !”


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Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to her, and do not kill him; she is his mother.”


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When all of Israel heard the judgment that the king had rendered, they stood in awe of the king, because they realized that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.


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Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were the secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder.


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Azariah the son of Nathan was over the governors, and Zabud the son of Nathan was a priest, an advisor to the king.


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Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, and they sustained the king and his palace, each one was to sustain for each month of the year.


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Baanah the son of Ahilud was in Taanach and Megiddo and all Beth-Shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, of Beth-Shean up to Abel-Meholah up to the other side of Jokmeam.


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Ben-Geber was in Ramoth-Gilead; the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh which are in the Gilead were his, and the region of Argob which is in the Bashan, sixty great cities, with walls having crossbars of bronze, were his.


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Geber the son of Uri was in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and of Og, the king of Bashan; one governor which was over the land.


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Judah and Israel were as many as the sand which is on the seashore in abundance, eating and drinking and rejoicing!


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Now Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt, who were bringing tribute and were serving Solomon all the days of his life.


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The food of Solomon for one day was thirty dry measures of choice meal and sixty dry measures of flour;


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ten stall-fed oxen and twenty pasture-fed oxen and a hundred sheep, besides deer and buck gazelles and roebucks and well-fed fowls.


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For he was ruling over all the west of the River from Tiphsah up to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River; and he had peace from every side all around.


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Judah and Israel lived in security, each man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.


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These governors sustained King Solomon and all who came near to the table of King Solomon, each in his month; they did not omit anything.


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The barley and the straw for the horses and for packhorses they brought to the place where they were, each according to his share.


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God gave wisdom to Solomon and very great discernment, as well as breadth of understanding, as the sand which is on the edge of the seashore.


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The wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the east and more than all the wisdom of Egypt.


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He was wiser than all the men: Ethan the Ezrahite; Heman, Calcol, and Darda the children of Mahol; and he was very well known.


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He spoke concerning the trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon up to the hyssop which grows on the wall; he also spoke concerning the animals, concerning the birds, concerning the creeping things, and concerning the fish.


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They came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.


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Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him as king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend for David.


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“You knew David my father, that he was not able to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God, in view of the warfare which surrounded him, until Yahweh placed them under the soles of his feet.


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But now Yahweh my God has given me rest all around me. There is no adversary, and there is no bad occurrence.


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Here I am, intending to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh promised to my father David, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set in your place on your throne, shall build the house for my name.’


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So then, command that they may cut cedars for me from Lebanon, and let my servants be with your servants. The wage of your servants I will give to you according to all that 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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When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and he said, “Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.”


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Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard what you have sent to me; I will do all of your desire concerning the timber of cedars and concerning the timber of cypresses.


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My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts in the sea to float to the place which you indicated to me. Then I shall break them up there, and you may carry them further, and you shall meet my needs by giving food for my house.”


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Then Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand dry measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty dry measures of specially prepared olive oil; thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.


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Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon as he promised to him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.


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Then King Solomon conscripted a forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor numbered thirty thousand men.


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He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand every month; the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor.


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Solomon had seventy thousand common laborers and eighty thousand stone craftsmen in the hill country.


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Besides the chiefs of the officers Solomon had, there were three thousand three hundred having charge over the people who were doing the work.


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When the king commanded, they quarried great stones and precious stones to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones.


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So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites hewed stones, and they prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.


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It happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites went out from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel, the month of Ziv (that is the second month), that he began to build the house for Yahweh.


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Now the house that King Solomon built for Yahweh was sixty cubits in its length and twenty cubits in its width and thirty cubits in its height.


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The vestibule on the face of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits in its length, and the width of the temple was ten cubits wide on the face of the temple.


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and he built a structure against the wall of the temple running all along the walls of the house, for the outer sanctuary and for the inner sanctuary, and made side rooms all around.


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The lower structure was five cubits in its width and the middle was six cubits in its width and the third was seven cubits in its width, for he made niches for the temple all around to the outside, so that beams would not attach to the walls of the temple.


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Now while the temple was being built, it was built with stones finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or stone shaping tool or any instrument of iron was heard in the temple as it was being built.


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The doorway of the side room in the middle of the side of the temple was on the south; they went up with a stairway to the middle and from the middle to the third floor.


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So he built the house and finished it. He covered the temple with rafters and wood planks and with the cedars.


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He also built the structure against all of the temple five cubits in height and fastened it to the temple with beams of cedar.


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“ Regarding this temple that you are building: if you walk in my ordinances and if you do my judgments and you keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my promise with you which I made to David your father.


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He lined the walls of the inside of the house with boards of cedar; from the floor of the temple up to the rafters of the ceiling he covered them with wood on the inside. He also covered the floor of the temple with cypress boards.


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He built twenty cubits from the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor up to the ceiling, and he built for it an inner sanctuary on the inside, as the most holy place.


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with the cedar within the inner house having carvings of gourds and buds of flowers. It was entirely of cedar; there was not a stone visible.


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Now in the inner sanctuary in the middle of the temple he prepared the inside to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there.


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In front, the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar.


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Solomon overlaid the temple on the inside with pure gold, and he drew across it with golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary, which he overlaid with gold.


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All of the temple he overlaid with gold until all of the temple was finished; all of the altar which belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.


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Five cubits was the first wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub, from the tip of his one wing up to the tip of his other wing.


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The second cherub was ten cubits according to the same measurement, and there was one shape for the two cherubim.


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He placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim; the wing of the first cherub touched against the wall and the wing of the second cherub was touching against the second wall; their wings spread to the middle of the house and were touching wing to wing.


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On all of the walls around the house, he carved engravings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers both inside and out.


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He made doors of olive wood for the doorway of the inner sanctuary, as well as for the doorpost of the fifth doorframe.


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On the two doors of olive wood he made carvings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers, and he overlaid them with gold by beating out the gold on the cherubim and the palm tree images.


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and two doors of cypress wood; one door with two folding panels and the second door with two folding panels.


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He carved cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.


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In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished according to all his specifications and according to all his plans. He had built it in seven years.


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He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; one hundred cubits its length, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height, on four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams atop the pillars.


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It was covered with cedar above, and the supporting beams which were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen to the row.


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All of the doorways and the doorframes had four-sided casings, with opening to opposite opening three times.


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The hall of pillars he made fifty cubits in its length and thirty cubits in its width, and a porch was in front of them, with pillars and an overhang in front of them.


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He made the hall of the throne where he would pronounce judgment, the hall of justice, and it was covered with cedar from the floor to the rafters.


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His house where he would live in the next courtyard on the inside of the porch was like this work, and he would make a house like this porch for the daughter of Pharaoh whom Solomon had taken as wife.


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All of these were of precious stones, according to the measurement of dressed stone, sawn with a saw on all sides; from the foundation up to the eaves and from the outside up to the great courtyard.


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The great courtyard all around had three rows of dressed stones and a row of cedar beams; for both the courtyard of the inner house of Yahweh and for 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, an artisan of bronze. He was filled with wisdom and with ability and with the knowledge to do all the work with the bronze. And he came to King Solomon, and he did all of his work.


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He cast the two pillars out of bronze; eighteen cubits was the height of the first, and a cord of twelve cubits would encircle the second pillar.


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He made two capitals to place on the tops of the pillars out of molten bronze; the first capital was five cubits in height, and the second capital was five cubits in height.


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A network of latticework and wreaths of chainwork with small chains were for the capitals which were on top of the pillars; seven for the first capital and seven for the second capital.


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He also made the pillars with two rows around on the lattice, each to cover the capitals which were on top, out of the pomegranate-shaped ornaments, and thus he did for the second capital as well.


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And on the capitals which were on top of the pillars in the porch were works of lilies four cubits high.


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And capitals were on the two pillars above near the bulging section which was beside the lattice, and two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments were in rows all around on the second capital.


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He set up the pillars for the porch of the main hall; he erected the pillar on the right and called its name Jakin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz.


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He also made the molten sea, ten cubits in diameter, and five cubits was its height. A measuring line of thirty cubits would encircle it all around.


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Gourds were under its rim surrounding it all around; ten to the cubit, surrounding the sea all around with two rows of gourds, which were cast when he cast the metal.


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The sea was standing on twelve oxen, with three facing to the north, three facing to the west, three facing to the south, and three facing to the east. The sea was on top of them, with all of their hindquarters turned to the inside.


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Its thickness was a handbreadth, but its rim was as the work on the brim of a cup, like the bud of a lily; it held two thousand baths.


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He made the ten stands of bronze; each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits in height.


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Now this was the construction of the stands: there were frames for them and frames between the crossbars,


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and on the frames which were between the crossbars were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the crossbars both above and beneath the lions and oxen were works of cascading wreaths.


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There were four bronze wheels for each of the stands, with bronze axles; the four support pedestals for these were under the basin, and the supports were decorated on each side with wreaths.


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Its opening from the inside of the capital and above was a cubit; its pedestal was a round work of a cubit and a half; moreover, on its opening were the carvings with four-sided frames, not circular.


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Four of the wheels were underneath the frames, and the axles of the wheels were on the stands. The height of each wheel was a cubit and a half.


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The construction of the wheel was like the construction of the wheel of the chariot; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their naves were all cast.


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On top of the stand was half a cubit deep, circular all around, and on the top of the stand were its supports and its frames.


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He engraved on the plates, on its supports, and on its frame cherubim, lions and images of a palm tree, according to the space for each, with wreaths all around.


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He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths; each basin was four cubits, one basin on each of the ten stands.


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He placed five of the stands on the south side of the house and five on the north side of the house, and the sea he set on the southeast side of the house.


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Hiram also made the basins and the shovels and the bowls for drinking wine; and so Hiram finished doing all of the work that he was to do for King Solomon in the house of Yahweh:


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the two pillars and the bowls of the capitals which were atop the two pillars, and the two lattice works to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were atop the pillars;


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and the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the two lattice works, the two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments for each latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the surface of the pillars;


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and the pots, the shovels, and the bowls for drinking wine. All the vessels of the tent which Hiram had made for King Solomon for the house of Yahweh were polished bronze.


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The king had cast them in the plain of the Jordan with the casting mold set in the ground between Succoth and Zarethan.


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Solomon left all of the vessels unweighed because of their very great abundance, so the weight of the bronze could not be determined.


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Solomon also made all of the vessels which were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar and the golden table on which was the bread of the presence;


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as well as the five lampstands of beaten gold at the south and five lampstands at the north before the presence of the inner sanctuary, with the flower-shaped ornaments, the lamps, and the pair of tongs all of gold.


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The cups, the snuffers, the bowls for drinking wine, the bowls for the incense, and the firepans were made from beaten gold; the facades for the doors of the inner house, for the most holy place, for the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.


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When all of the work which king Solomon did on the house of Yahweh was completed, Solomon brought out the holy objects of his father David, the silver and the gold and the vessels, which he put in the treasury rooms of the house of Yahweh.


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At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families of the Israelites before King Solomon, in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion.


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All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival in the month of Ethnaim, that is, the seventh month.


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So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly and all of the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.


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King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were assembling with him in the presence of the ark were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered because of abundance.


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The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim,


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for the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark. The cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above.


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The poles were long, and 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 the outside, and they are there until this day.


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There was not anything in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made a covenant with the Israelites after they went out from the land of Egypt.


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The priests were not able to stand to minister because of the presence of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.


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Then the king turned his face around, and he blessed all of the assembly of Israel. (Now all the assembly of Israel was standing).


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Then he said, “Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who has promised with his mouth to David my father and fulfilled by his oath, saying,


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‘From the day that I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where my name might be, but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’


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but Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Because you desired to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was within your heart.


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However, you will not build the house, but your son who has come from your loins, he shall build the house for my name.’


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Yahweh has carried out his promise which he had made; I have risen in place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel as Yahweh promised, and I have built the house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel.


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I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant which Yahweh made with our ancestors when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”


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Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all of the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands to the heavens,


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and he said, “O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no god like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the loyal love for your servants who are walking before you with all their heart.


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You have kept for your servant David my father what you promised to him, and you have spoken with your mouth, and with your hand you have fulfilled it this very day.


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So then, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you promised to him, saying, ‘For you, no man will be cut off from before me who will be sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons keep their ways to walk before me just as you have walked before me.’


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So then, O God of Israel, please let your word be confirmed which you have promised to your servant David my father.


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For will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain you! How could this house that I have built?


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You must regard the prayer of your servant and his plea! O Yahweh my God, listen to the pleading and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you this day,


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so that your eyes will be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, ‘My name will be there,’ to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.


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You must listen to the plea of your servant and your people Israel which they pray toward this place; and you must hear from the place where you live, from heaven you must hear and you must forgive.


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If a man sins against his neighbor and he pronounces an oath against him to curse him, and the curse comes before your altar in this house,


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then you shall hear in heaven and you shall act and you shall judge your servant, to declare the wicked guilty by bringing his way upon his head and to declare the righteous innocent by rewarding him according to his righteousness.


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When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they sinned against you, and when they turn to you and confess your name and pray and beg for mercy from you in this house,


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then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you shall bring them back to the ground which you gave to their ancestors.


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When you shut up the heavens so there is no rain because they have sinned against you, then they pray to this place and they confess your name and they return from their sin because you punished them,


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then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you will teach them the good way in which they should go, and you will give rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance.


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If there should be in the land famine or disease, if there should be blight or mildew or locust or caterpillars, if it happens that his enemy lays siege against him in the land of his gates, if any plague or any disease,


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any prayer or any plea which is offered by any person for all of your people Israel, who each knows the infestation of his own heart and spreads out his palms to this house,


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then you shall hear in heaven the place of your dwelling, and you shall forgive and act and give to the man whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of man.


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Do these things so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the face of the land that you gave to our ancestors.


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Also for the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, and he comes from a distant land because of your name,


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(for they shall hear of your great name and your powerful hand and your outstretched arm), and he shall come and pray toward this house,


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you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, and act according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you as your people Israel, and to know that your name has been invoked over this house that I have built.


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If your people go out to battle against his enemy in the way that you shall send them and they pray to Yahweh, toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name,


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“If they sin against you (for there is not a person who does not sin) and you are angry with them and you give them to an enemy and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near,


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and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,’


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if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen and the house that you built for your name,


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then you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and you shall vindicate them.


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You shall forgive your people who sinned against you, even for all their transgressions which they committed against you. You shall give them compassion before their captors so that they may have compassion on them,


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for they are your people and your inheritance whom you brought from Egypt from the middle of the smelter of iron.


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O, that your eyes may be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, to listen to them in all things when they call to you.


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For you have separated them for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as you promised through the hand of Moses your servant when you brought out our ancestors from Egypt, my Lord Yahweh!”


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It happened that when Solomon finished praying to Yahweh all of the prayer and this plea, he got up from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling down on his knees with his palms outstretched to heaven.


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“Blessed be Yahweh who gave a resting place to his people Israel. According to all that he promised, not one word has fallen from all of his promises concerning the good which he spoke through the hand of Moses his servant.


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to incline our hearts toward him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his judgments which he commanded our ancestors.


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Let these my words which I pleaded before Yahweh be near to Yahweh our God, by day and by night, to maintain the justice of his servant and the justice of his people Israel as each day requires


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Let your heart be completely with Yahweh our God by walking in his statutes, by keeping his commands as this day.”


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Solomon sacrificed the fellowship offerings which he offered to Yahweh: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all of the Israelites dedicated the house of Yahweh.


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On that day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard before the house of Yahweh because he offered there the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings because the bronze altar that was in the presence of Yahweh was too small to hold the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.


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Solomon held the festival at that time and all of Israel with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath up to the wadi of Egypt before Yahweh our God, for seven days and seven days, a total of fourteen days.


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On the eighth day, he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and they went to their tents rejoicing and in good spirits because of all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.


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It happened that as Solomon finished the building of the house of Yahweh, the king’s house, and all the things Solomon desired to do,


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Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house which you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.


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As for you, if you walk before me as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and with uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep my ordinances and my judgments,


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then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘A man will not be cut off for you from upon the throne of Israel.’


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“If ever you or any of your descendants turn from following me and do not keep my commandments and my ordinances that I have set before you and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them,


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then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples.


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This house shall become a heap of ruins; all those passing by will be appalled by it and hiss, and they will say, ‘On what account did Yahweh do this to this land and to this house?’


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And they will say, ‘Because they have forsaken Yahweh their God who brought their ancestors out from the land of Egypt and they embraced other gods and bowed down to them and served them. Therefore, Yahweh brought on them all of this disaster.’ ”


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It happened at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Yahweh and the house of the king,


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since Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with wood of cedar and with wood of cypresses and with the gold according to all his desire, then King Solomon gave twenty cities in the land of the Galilee to Hiram.


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So Hiram went out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but they were not right in his eyes.


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So he said, “What are these cities that you have given to me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul until this day.


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This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of Yahweh and his house, the Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.


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Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer and burnt it with fire. He had also killed the Canaanites who were living in the city and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, the wife of Solomon.


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and he also built all of the storage cities which were Solomon’s, the cities for the chariots, the cities for the cavalry, and all of Solomon’s desire that he wanted to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion.


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All of the people who were remaining from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites who were not of the Israelites,


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their children who remained after them in the land, whom the Israelites were not able to completely destroy, Solomon conscripted them for forced labor, until this very day.


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But from the Israelites Solomon did not make a slave, but they were the men of war, his officers, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.


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These were the commanders of the overseers who were over the work for Solomon, five hundred and fifty, ruling over the people doing the work.


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As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the Millo.


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Solomon sacrificed three times a year: burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar that he had built to Yahweh, and he offered incense with it before Yahweh; and so he completed 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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Hiram sent his servants with the fleet of ships, sailors who knew the sea, with the servants of Solomon.


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They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and they brought it to King Solomon.


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Now the queen of Sheba had heard of the fame of Solomon regarding the name of Yahweh, and she came to test him with hard questions.


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So she came to Jerusalem with very great wealth; with camels carrying spices, very much gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon, and she spoke to him all that was on her heart.


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Solomon answered all of her questions; there was not a thing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her.


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the food of his table, the seat of his servants, the manner of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered in the house of Yahweh, she was breathless.


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Then she said to the king, “The report which I heard in my land was true concerning your accomplishments and your wisdom.


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I had not believed the report to be true until I came and my eyes had seen, and behold! The half had not been told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I had heard.


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Happy are your men and happy are these your servants who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom.


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May Yahweh your God be blessed, who has delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel, because of the love of Yahweh for Israel forever, and he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness.”


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Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, abundant spices, and precious stones. Spices as these did not come again in such abundance as that which the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon.


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Moreover, the fleet of ships of Hiram which carried the gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir abundant amounts of almug wood and precious stones.


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The king made a raised structure for the house of Yahweh and for the house of the king out of the almug wood, as well as lyres and harps for the singers. This much almug wood has not come nor been seen again up to this day.


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King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all of her desire that she asked, besides that which King Solomon freely offered her. Then she turned and went to her land with her servants.


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The weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,


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apart from that of the men of the traders and the profits of the traders, and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the land.


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King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; six hundred measures of gold went up over each shield.


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Also he made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them into the House of the Forest of Lebanon.


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Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a circular top to the throne behind it, and armrests were on each side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the armrests.


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Twelve lions were standing there, six on each of the six steps on either side; nothing like this was made for any of the kingdoms.


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All of the drinking vessels of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels for the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver; it was not considered as something valuable in the days of Solomon.


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For the fleet of Tarshish belonged to the king and was on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish used to come carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.


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All of the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.


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They were each bringing his gift; objects of silver and objects of gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This used to happen year after year.


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Solomon gathered chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He stationed them in the cities of the chariots and with the king in Jerusalem.


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The king made the silver in Jerusalem as the stones, and the cedars he made as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah in abundance.


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The import of the horses which were Solomon’s was from Egypt and from Kue; the traders of the king received horses from Kue at a price.


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A chariot went up and went out from Egypt at six hundred silver shekels and a horse at a hundred and fifty. So it was for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Aram; by their hand they were exported.


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King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite;


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from the nations which Yahweh had said to the Israelites, “You shall not marry them, and they shall not marry you. They will certainly turn your heart after other gods.” But Solomon clung to them to love.


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It happened at the time of Solomon’s old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father had been.


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Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of the Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites.


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So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully follow after Yahweh as David his father.


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At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which faces Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites.


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Yahweh was angry with Solomon, for he had turned his heart from Yahweh, the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice.


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And he had commanded him concerning this matter not to go after other gods, but he did not keep that which Yahweh commanded.


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So Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this was with you, and you did not keep my covenant and my ordinances which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom from you, and I will give it to your servant.


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However, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of David your father; from the hand of your son I will tear it away.


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Yet all of the kingdom I will not tear away. I will 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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Then Yahweh raised an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, from the descendants of that king in Edom.


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It had happened that when David was at Edom, Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, and he killed every male in Edom.


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But Hadad himself had fled, and some Edomite men from the servants of his father with him, to go to Egypt, when Hadad was a young boy.


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They had set out from Midian until they came to Paran where they took men from Paran with them and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave to him a house and assigned food for him and gave him land.


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Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, and he gave him the sister of his wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen, as wife.


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The sister of Tahpenes bore Genubath his son for him, and Tahpenes weaned him in the middle of the house of Pharaoh. Genubath was in the house of Pharaoh in the midst of the children of Pharaoh.


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Now Hadad heard in Egypt that David had slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away that I may go to my land.”


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Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack with me that you now are seeking to go to your land?” He said, “No, but you must surely send me away.”


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God had also raised Rezon the son of Eliada as an adversary against him, who had fled from Hadadezer the king of Zobah, his master.


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He gathered men around him and he became the commander of bandits. When David killed some of them, they went to Damascus and settled there, and they reigned in Damascus.


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He was an adversary for Israel all the days of Solomon, and along with the evil that Hadad did, he detested Israel while he reigned over Aram.


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Now Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah (now the name of his mother was Zeruah, a widow woman), a servant of Solomon rebelled against the king.


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This is the reason that he rebelled against the king: when Solomon built the Millo, he closed the gap of the city of David his father.


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Now the man Jeroboam was a man of ability, and Solomon saw that the young man was a diligent worker, so he appointed him over all of the forced labor for the house of Joseph.


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It happened at that time that Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, and he accidentally met Ahijah the Shilonite the prophet on the way. Now he had clothed himself with new clothing. While the two of them were alone in the field,


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Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes,


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but one tribe shall be for him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel;


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because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the Ammonites. They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as did David his father.


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But I will not take all of the kingdom from his hand, but I will make him a leader all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my ordinances.


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To his son I will give one tribe in order to be a lamp for my servant David, always before my face, in Jerusalem the city in which I have chosen to place my name.


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It shall be that if you listen to all that I command you and you walk in my ways and you do right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.


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Then Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam got up and fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king of Egypt, and he remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.


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Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom; are they not written on the scroll of the acts of Solomon?


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Then Solomon slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son became king in his place.


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It happened that Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it while he was still in Egypt where he had fled from the face of King Solomon, and Jeroboam had lived in Egypt.


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So they sent and summoned him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came. Then they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,


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“Your father made our yoke heavy; now lighten the hard labor of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.”


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Then King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had been serving before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying, “How are you advising me to answer this people?”


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They said to him, “If you will be a servant today to this people, then you will serve them; and if you answer them and speak good words to them, they will always be your servants.”


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But he rejected the advice of the old men, which they gave him, and he consulted with the youngsters who had grown up with him, who were serving before him.


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He said to them, “What are you advising that we should reply to this people who spoke to me by saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us.’ ”


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Then the youngsters who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.


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So then, my father loaded a heavy yoke on all of you, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!’ ”


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Jeroboam and all of the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had spoken: “Return to me on the third day.”


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Then the king answered all the people harshly, as he had rejected the advice of the old men that they had offered.


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He spoke to them according to the advice of the youngsters, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add onto your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”


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So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turning of events from Yahweh in order to fulfill his word which Yahweh had spoken through the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.


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When all of Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “ What share do we have in David? There is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now look to your house, David!” Then Israel went to their tents.


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King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was over the forced labor, and all of Israel cast stones at him and he died, but King Rehoboam managed to get up on the chariot to flee to Jerusalem.


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It happened that just when all of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all of Israel. Not one followed after the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.


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When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all of the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand choice troops to fight with the house of Israel, to restore the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.


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“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon the king of Judah and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and the remainder of the people, saying,


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‘Thus says Yahweh: “You shall not go up and you shall not fight with your brothers the Israelites. Return each of you to his house, for this thing was from me.” ’ ” So they heeded the word of Yahweh, and they returned to go home according to the word of Yahweh.


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Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he resided in it. Then he went out from there and built Penuel.


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if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem. The heart of this people will return to their master Rehoboam the king of Judah, and they shall kill me and return to him.”


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And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them, “ You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough; here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”


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Then he built the houses on the high places, and he appointed priests from all walks of life who were not from the sons of Levi.


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Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.


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He offered sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the Israelites, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.


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Suddenly a man of God from Judah came to Bethel, by the word of Yahweh, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer incense.


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Then he proclaimed against the altar by the word of Yahweh and said, “O altar, altar, thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall burn on you.’ ”


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He gave a sign on that day, saying, “This is the sign that Yahweh has predetermined: Look, this altar will be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”


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It happened at the moment the king heard the word of the man of God that he cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But his hand which he stretched out to him was paralyzed, and he was not able to draw it back to himself.


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Then the altar was torn apart and the ashes from the altar poured out according to the sign which the man of God had announced by the word of Yahweh.


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Then the king responded and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me that my hand may return to me.” So the man of God entreated the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king returned to him, as it was in the beginning.


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Then the king spoke to the man of God, “Come with me to the house and refresh yourself, that I may give you a gift.”


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Then the man of God said to the king, “Even if you give to me half of your house I will not come with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place,


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for the word of Yahweh has commanded me, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water, and you shall not return on the way that you came.’ ”


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Now a certain older prophet was living in Bethel, and his son came and recounted to him all of the things that the man of God had done that day in Bethel and the words he had spoken to the king, and they told them to their father.


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Then their father asked them, “ Which way did he go?” His sons had seen the way which the man of God who had come from Judah had taken.


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Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it


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and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under the oak and said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.”


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Then he said, “I am not able to return with you or to go with you. I will not eat food nor will I drink water with you in this place.


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For a word came to me by the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall not eat food, nor shall you drink water there. You shall not return to go by the way that you came.’ ”


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Then he said, “I am also a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Let him return with you to your house that he may eat food and drink water.’ ” He lied to him.


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Now it happened that they were sitting at the table, and the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who brought him back.


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He proclaimed to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of Yahweh and have not kept the command which Yahweh your God commanded you,


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but you have returned and have eaten food and drank water in the place which he ordered you not to eat food nor to drink water, then your dead body shall not return to the tomb of your ancestors.’ ”


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It happened after he ate food and drank water that he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.


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When he left, a lion found him on the road and killed him, and his dead body was thrown on the road with the donkey standing beside it, and the lion was standing by the dead body.


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As men were passing by and they saw the dead body thrown in the road and the lion standing beside the dead body, they came and told it in the city where the old prophet was living.


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When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the mouth of Yahweh, and Yahweh has given him to the lion. He tore him in pieces and killed him according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken to him.”


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He went and found his dead body thrown in the road and a donkey with the lion standing beside it, but the lion had not eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey.


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So the prophet lifted up the corpse of the man of God and put it on the donkey and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn him and to bury him.


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It happened after he buried him that he said to his sons, “When I die, you shall bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; you shall lay my bones beside his bones.


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For surely, the thing which he proclaimed by the word of Yahweh against the altar which is in Bethel will happen, as it will against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria.”


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After this event, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he returned and again made priests for the high places of people from all walks of life. He filled his hand with all his desire and became one of the priests of the high places himself.


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This matter became sin in the house of Jeroboam, to make it disappear and to destroy it from the surface of the earth.


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Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Look, Ahijah the prophet is there, and he spoke concerning me before I became king over this people.


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You must take ten loaves of bread in your hand and cakes and a jar of honey, and you must go to him. He shall tell you what will happen to the boy.”


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The wife of Jeroboam did so. She got up, went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah was not able to see, for his eyes were fixed because of his old age.


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Then Yahweh said to Ahijah, “Look, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from you about her son, for he is ill. Thus and so you shall say to her. When she comes, she will be disguising herself.”


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It happened at the moment Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps coming through the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you making yourself unrecognizable? I have been sent a hard message for you:


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Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: “Because I raised you from the midst of the people and I made you leader over my people Israel,


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I tore the kingdom from the house of David and I gave it to you. But you were not like my servant David who kept my commandments, and who went after me with all his heart, to do only what is right in my eyes.


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But you did more evil than all who were before you. You have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten idols to provoke me, but me you have completely disregarded.


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Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off males from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished.


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He who dies for Jeroboam in the city, the dogs will eat. He who dies in the open field, the birds from the heavens will eat, for Yahweh has spoken it.” ’


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All of Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. This one alone will come to a tomb for Jeroboam, because a good thing has been found in him by Yahweh the God of Israel in the house of Israel.


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Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will even now cut off the house of Jeroboam this day.


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Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their sacred poles which are provoking Yahweh.


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He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin.”


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Then the wife of Jeroboam got up, went, and came to Tirzah. As she was coming to the threshold of the house, the boy died.


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They buried him and all of Israel mourned for him, according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.


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The remainder of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.


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The days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty-two years, and he slept with his ancestors. Then Nadab his son became king in place of him.


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Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which, from all of the tribes of Israel, Yahweh chose to place his name. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess.


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But Judah did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they annoyed him more than their fathers did with their sins that they had committed.


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They also built for themselves high places and stone pillars and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree.


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There were also male shrine prostitutes in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh had driven out from before the Israelites.


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It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem,


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and he took the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and he took all the treasures of the king’s house. He took the small gold shields that Solomon had made,


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so King Rehoboam made small copper shields in place of them and entrusted them to the commanders of the royal guard who keep the doorway of the king’s house.


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Whenever the king came to the house of Yahweh, the royal guard carried them and brought them back to the alcove room of the royal guard.


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The remainder of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?


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Then Rehoboam slept with his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. The name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son became king in his place.


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He walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father.


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For the sake of David, Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by establishing his son after him and by causing Jerusalem to exist;


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because David did right in the eyes of Yahweh and he didn’t turn aside from all that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.


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The remainder of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? There was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam.


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Abijam slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son became king in his place.


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He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.


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He put away the male shrine prostitutes from the land, and he removed all of the idols that his ancestors made.


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Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, as she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi Kidron.


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But the high places he did not remove. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was completely with Yahweh all of his days.


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He brought the holy objects of his father and his own holy objects to the house of Yahweh, silver and gold and utensils.


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Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and he built Ramah to hinder the coming and going of anyone to Asa king of Judah.


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Asa took all of the silver and gold remaining in the storerooms of the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the house of the king, and he gave them into the hand of his servants; so King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,


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“ Let there be a covenant between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel that he may go up away from me.”


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Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and he attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, and all of Kinnereth, in addition to all the land of Naphtali.


