Israelites in the Bible

Exact Match

Therefore, to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh by the tendon of the hip.

And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:

These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt:

Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben.

And he blessed them, saying, "At the example of these, the Israelites shall bless and say, 'God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.'" Thus set he Ephraim before Manasseh.

And the {Israelites} were fruitful and multiplied and were many and were very, very numerous, and the land was filled with them.

And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the {Israelites} [are] greater and more numerous than us.

So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites.

And the Egyptians made the Israelites serve rigorously [forcing them into severe slavery].

They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.

And now, look, the cry of distress of the {Israelites} has come to me, and also I see the oppression [with] which [the] Egyptians [are] oppressing them.

Then Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers (ancestors) has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

Then God also said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Israel), has sent me to you.’ This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial [name] to all generations.

Then Moses and Aaron went [into Egypt] and assembled all the elders of the Israelites;

So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the Israelites and that He had looked [with compassion] on their suffering, then they bowed their heads and worshiped [the Lord].

So the slave masters of the people and their foremen went to the Israelites and said, "Thus says Pharaoh: 'I am not giving you straw.

And the foremen of the {Israelites}, whom Pharaoh's slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten [by men who were] saying, "Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking {as before, both yesterday and today}?"

And the foremen of the {Israelites} came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you treat your servants like this?

And the foremen of the {Israelites} saw they were in trouble {with the saying}, "You will not reduce from your bricks {for each day} on its day."

but also I myself heard the groaning of the {Israelites}, whom [the] Egyptians [are] making to work, and I remembered my covenant.

Therefore say to the {Israelites}, 'I [am] Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the {forced labor} of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments.

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their impatience and despondency, and because of their forced labor.

"Go, speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and let him release the {Israelites} from his land."

But Moses said to the Lord, “Look, [my own people] the Israelites have not listened to me; so how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled and inept in speech?”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command concerning the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

[It was] that Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, "Bring the {Israelites} out from the land of Egypt according to their divisions."

They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt; these are [the same] Moses and Aaron.

You will speak all that I will command you, and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh, and he will release the {Israelites} from his land.

And Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will put my hand into Egypt and bring out my divisions, my people, the {Israelites}, from the land of Egypt with great punishments.

But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing that belongs to the Israelites will die.”’”

And the Lord did this thing the next day, and all [kinds of] the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the Israelites, not one died.

And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the {Israelites} [were], there was no hail.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart [so that it was even more resolved and obstinate], and he did not let the Israelites go.

The Egyptians could not see one another, nor did anyone leave his place for three days, but all the Israelites had [supernatural] light in their dwellings.

But not even a dog will threaten any of the Israelites, whether man or animal, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders (miracles) before Pharaoh; yet the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the Israelites go out of his land.

you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed [their heads] low and worshiped [God].

Then the Israelites went and did [as they had been told]: just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites; and go, serve the Lord, as you said.

Now the Israelites had acted in accordance with the word of Moses; and they had asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing.

Now the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides [the women and] the children.

And the period of dwelling of the {Israelites} that they dwelled in Egypt [was] four hundred and thirty years.

It is a night of watching to be observed for the Lord for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this [same] night is for the Lord, to be observed and celebrated by all the Israelites throughout their generations.

Then all the Israelites did so; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

And on that very same day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their hosts (tribal armies).

So God led the people around [by] the way of the desert [to] the {Red Sea}, and the {Israelites} went up in battle array from the land of Egypt.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had solemnly ordered (placed under an oath) the Israelites, saying, “God will assuredly take care of you, and you must carry my bones away from here with you.”

"Speak to the {Israelites} so that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol {and the sea}; before Baal Zephon, [which is] opposite it, you will camp by the sea.

For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” So the Israelites did this.

The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, as they were leaving confidently and defiantly.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were very frightened; so the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the {Israelites} [so that] they set out.

And you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it [so that] the {Israelites} can go in the middle of the sea on the dry land.

So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. It was a cloud along with darkness [even by day to the Egyptians], but it gave light by night [to the Israelites]; so one [army] did not come near the other all night.

The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea -- not so much as one of them survived!

But the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters formed a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Then Moses and the {Israelites} sang this song to Yahweh, {and they said}, "Let me sing to Yahweh because he is highly exalted; [the] horse and its rider he hurled into the sea.

When the horses of Pharaoh came into the sea with his chariots and with his charioteers, Yahweh brought back upon them the waters of the sea, and the {Israelites} traveled on dry ground through the middle of the sea.

And they set out from Elim, and all the community of the {Israelites} came to the desert of Sin, which [is] between Elim {and Sinai}, in the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt.

And the {Israelites} said to them, "{If only we had died} by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread {until we were full}, because you have brought us out to this desert to kill all of this assembly with hunger."

And Moses and Aaron said to all the {Israelites}, "[In the] evening, you will know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt,

And Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the community of the {Israelites}, 'Come near before Yahweh because he has heard your grumblings.'"

And at the moment of Aaron's speaking to all the community of the {Israelites}, they turned to the desert, {and just then} the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud.

“I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.

And the {Israelites} did so, and they gathered, some more and some less.

The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they reached an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

And all the community of the {Israelites} set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.

And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the {Israelites} and because of their testing Yahweh [by] saying, "Is Yahweh in our midst or not?"

Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, {even in the matter where they the Egyptians dealt arrogantly against the Israelites}."

In the third month after the {Israelites} went out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert.

Moses went up to God [on the mountain], and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Say this to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.

“Now these are the ordinances (laws) which you shall set before the Israelites:

And he sent young men from the {Israelites}, and they offered burnt offerings, and they sacrificed sacrifices [as] fellowship offerings to Yahweh [using] bulls.

Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the Israelites; and they saw [the manifestation of the presence of] God, and ate and drank.

In the sight of the Israelites the appearance of the glory and brilliance of the Lord was like consuming fire on the top of the mountain.

"Speak to the {Israelites}, and let them bring to me a contribution. You will receive my contribution from every man whose heart prompts him.

There I will meet with you; from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, I will speak [intimately] with you regarding every commandment that I will give you for the Israelites.

“You shall command the Israelites to provide you with clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually [every night].

In the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people], outside the veil which is in front of the [ark of the] Testimony [and sets it apart], Aaron [the high priest] and his sons shall keep the lamp burning from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute [to be observed] throughout their generations on behalf of the Israelites.

"And bring near to you Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from the midst of the {Israelites} to serve as priests for me--Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron.

"And you will take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the {Israelites},

[As the] work of a skilled stone craftsman, [with] seal engravings you will engrave on the two stones the names of the {Israelites}; you will make them mounted [in] gold filigree settings.

And you will set the two stones on the ephod's shoulder pieces [as] stones of remembrance for the {Israelites}, and Aaron will bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulder pieces for remembrance.

The stones will be according to the names of the {Israelites}, twelve according to their names, [with] seal engravings, each according to its name they will be for [the] twelve tribes.

And Aaron will bear the names of the {Israelites} in the breast piece of judgment on his heart, when he comes to the sanctuary, for a remembrance before Yahweh continually.

Thematic Bible



And when the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, saw the mourning ceremony at the threshing floor of Atad they said, "This [is] a severe mourning for the Egyptians." Therefore its name was called Abel-Mizraim, which [is] beyond the Jordan.


You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you at [the] appointed time, the month of Abib, because in it you came out from Egypt, and {no one will} appear before me empty-handed.

"Observe the month of Abib, and you shall keep [the] Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out from Egypt [by] night.


And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.

And Moses saw the people, that they [were] running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among {their enemies}.

because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words in my name, lies that I have not commanded them, and I [am] he who knows, and [I am] a witness,' {declares} Yahweh."

Slanderous men are {among you} to shed blood, and they, {among you}, eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you. They uncover [the] nakedness of father among you; they violate [a woman] unclean of menstruation among you. And a man does a detestable thing [with] the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among you his sister, the daughter of his father.

You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and {each man defiles} the wife of his neighbor, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?" '

All of them commit adultery, like a burning oven whose baker has stopped from stirring the fire, and from kneading [the] dough until it is leavened.


After finishing these things the officials approached me saying, "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated from the people of the lands with their detestable things, and from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For they have taken from their daughters for themselves and their sons. So the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the officials and prefects were foremost in this sin.



And the layer of dew came up, {and there} on the face of the desert was a fine granular substance, fine like frost on the ground.

And the house of Israel called its name "manna." And it [was] like coriander seed, white, and its taste [was] like a wafer with honey.

Now the manna [was] like coriander seed, and its outward appearance was like that of bdellium-gum. The people went about and gathered [it], and they ground [it] with mills or crushed [it] with mortar. Then they boiled [it] in a pot and made it [into] bread-cakes; and it tasted like olive oil cakes. When the dew came down on the camp [at] night, the manna came down [with] it.

You gave them bread from heaven for their starvation, and you caused water to go out from a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in order to take into possession the land that you have sworn by your hand to give to them.

Nevertheless, he commanded [the] skies above and opened [the] doors of heaven, and rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.


and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly to the presence of the rock, and he said to them, "Please listen, you rebels; can we bring out water for you from this rock?" Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water went out, and the community and their livestock drank.

And all the community of the {Israelites} set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, "Give us water so that we can drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?" And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why {ever} did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me and my sons and my cattle with thirst?" read more.
And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "What will I do with this people? A little longer and they will stone me." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go on before the people and take with you [some] from the elders of Israel, and the staff with which you struck the Nile take in your hand, and go. Look, I [will be] standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out from it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the {Israelites} and because of their testing Yahweh [by] saying, "Is Yahweh in our midst or not?"

He caused rocks to split in the wilderness and provided drink abundantly as [from the] depths. And he brought streams out of [the] rock and caused water to flow down like rivers. But they sinned still further against him by rebelling [against the] Most High in the desert. read more.
And they tested God in their heart [by] asking food {for their craving}. And they spoke against God. They said, "Is God able to prepare a table in the wilderness? Yes, he struck [the] rock and water flowed and streams gushed out, [but] can he also give food or provide meat for his people?"

He opened [the] rock and waters flowed; they coursed through the dry places [like] a river.


They asked, and he brought quail, and satisfied them with [the] bread of heaven.

Then a wind set out from Yahweh, and it drove quails from the west, and he spread [them] out on the camp about a day's journey on one side and about a day's journey on the other, all around the camp, about two cubits on the surface of the land. And so the people {worked} all day and all night and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the least of the ones collecting gathered ten homers). While the meat [was] still between their teeth, before it was consumed, Yahweh was angry with the people, and Yahweh struck a very great plague among the people.

Nevertheless, he commanded [the] skies above and opened [the] doors of heaven, and rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Humankind ate [the] bread of {angels}. He sent them food [enough] to be satisfied. read more.
He caused [the] east wind to blow in the heavens and drove along [the] south wind by his strength. Then he rained meat on them like dust, even winged birds like [the] sand of [the] seas. He caused [them] to fall in the midst of his camp, all around his dwellings. So they ate and were well filled, and he brought about [what] they craved. They had not yet turned aside from their craving, [while] their food [was] still in their mouth,



[This is] a lasting statute for your generations in all your dwellings: you must not eat any fat or any blood.'"

And [if there is] {anyone} from the house of Israel or from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who eats any blood, then I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people.

{Therefore} I said to the {Israelites}, '{None of you} may eat blood, nor may the alien who is dwelling in your midst eat blood.'


And on the first day you shall take for yourselves the first fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees and branches of a leafy tree and of a brook's poplar trees, and you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God [for] seven days. And you must hold it [as] a festival for Yahweh [for] seven days in the year; [it shall be] a {lasting statute} throughout your generations; in the seventh month you must hold it. You must live in the booths [for] seven days; all the natives in Israel must live in the booths, read more.
so that your generations shall know that I made the {Israelites} live in booths when I brought them from the land of Egypt; I [am] Yahweh your God.'"

and that they should proclaim and give voice in all of their cities in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hill and bring olive tree branches, olive oil wood branches, myrtle shrub branches, palm tree branches, and other leafy tree branches to make booths, as it is written." So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the public square of the Water Gate, and in the public square of the Gate of Ephraim.


"Thus you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{As I live}, {surely} whoever [is] in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever [is] on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals to eat him, and whoever [is] in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague.


{But} at the time Saul's daughter Merab [was] to be given to David, she was given [instead] to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.

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].

They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'"

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.

And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, secure for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

And when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and when he was strengthened, he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him.


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."

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}.

And they answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you will send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses, so will we obey you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Whoever {rebels against your orders} and does not obey your words according to what you commanded us will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous."

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. 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.

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}.

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."

All these [were] men of war arrayed in battle line {with a whole heart}. They came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel [had] one heart to make David king.


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.

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. The {Israelites} were living in the cities of Judah, and Rehoboam was reigning over them. 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. read more.
So Israel rebelled against the house of David until this day.


Judah and the land of Israel [were] trading [with] you with wheat from Minnith and millet and honey and olive oil and balm; [all these] they gave [for] your wares.

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. Hiram sent his servants with the fleet of ships, {sailors} who knew the sea, with the servants of Solomon. They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and they brought it to King Solomon.

After him Malkijah, {one of the goldsmiths}, repaired up to the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Enrollment Gate and up to the upper room of the corner. Between the upper room of the corner to the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants repaired.


They will ask [the] way [to] Zion, [turning] their faces there. They will come and join themselves to Yahweh [by] {an everlasting covenant} [that] will not be forgotten.


"{And then} if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God {by diligently observing} all of his commandments and his statutes that I [am] commanding you {today}, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you: "You [shall] be cursed in the city, and [you shall] be cursed in the field. "Your basket [shall] be cursed and your kneading trough. read more.
"The fruit of your womb [shall] be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock. "You shall be cursed {when you come in}, and you [shall] be cursed {when you go out}. "Yahweh will send upon you the curse, the panic, and the threat {in everything that you undertake}, {until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly} {because of} the evil of your deeds in that you have forsaken me. Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you {until it consumes you} from the land that you [are] going to, to take possession of it. Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you {until you perish}. And your heavens that [are] over your heads shall be [like] bronze, and the earth that [is] under you [shall be like] iron. Yahweh will change the rain of your land [to] fine dust and [to] sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you {until you are destroyed}. "Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated {before} your enemies; on one road you shall go {against} them, but you will flee on seven roads {before} them, and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be {anyone to frighten them away}. "Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with {the skin rash that cannot be healed}. Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed [in finding] your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed {all the time}, and there will not be {anyone who will rescue you}. You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it. Your ox [shall] [be] slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey [shall be] stolen [right] {before you}, and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats [shall] be given to your enemies, and {there shall not be anyone who rescues you}. Your sons and your daughters [shall be] given to other people, and {you will be looking on} {longingly} for them all day, {but you will be powerless to do anything}. A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed {for the rest of your lives}. You shall become mad {because of what your eyes shall see}. Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs [from which] {you will not be able to be healed}, from the sole of your foot and up to your crown. Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors have not known, and there you will serve other gods [of] wood and stone. And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there. "You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little [produce], for the locust shall devour it. You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress [them], but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it. There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint [yourself], for your olives shall drop off. You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be {yours}, for they shall go into captivity. The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground. The alien that [is] in your midst shall ascend over you, higher [and] higher, but you shall go down lower [and] lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be [the] head, but you shall be [the] tail. "And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you {until you are destroyed}, because {you did not listen} to the voice of Yahweh your God, {by observing} his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring {forever}. "{Because} [of the fact] that you did not serve Yahweh your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you [under conditions of] famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of everything; and he shall place a yoke of iron on your neck {until he has destroyed you}. Yahweh will raise [up] against you a nation from far [off], from the end of the earth, [attacking] as the eagle swoops [down], {a nation whose language you will not understand}, {a grim-faced nation} {who does not show respect} to [the] old and [the] young [and] does not show pity. And it shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground {until you are destroyed}, [and] who will not leave for you [any] grain, wine, and olive oil, {calves of your herds}, and {lambs of} your flock {until it has destroyed you}. And it shall besiege you in all your towns {until your high and fortified walls fall}, which you [are] trusting in {throughout your land}; and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you. And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, {during the siege and during the distress} your enemy inflicts upon you. The most refined and the very sensitive man among you {shall be mean with his brother} and {against his beloved wife} and against the rest of his children that he has left over, {by refraining from giving} to [even] one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because [there is] not anything [that is] left over for him {during the siege and distress} that your enemy inflicts upon you. The most refined and the [most] delicate [woman] among you, who shall not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being [so] delicate and from [such] gentleness, {shall be mean to her beloved husband} and against her son and against her daughter, and [even] concerning her afterbirth {that goes out} from between her feet and [also] concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret {during the siege and during the distress} that your enemy inflicts upon her in your {towns}. "If {you do not diligently observe} all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, then Yahweh shall overwhelm [you] with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring. And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt [concerning] which {you were in dread} {because of them}. Also any illness and any plague that [is] not written in the scroll of this law, he shall bring them, Yahweh, upon you until you are destroyed. And you shall remain {only a few people} in place of [the fact] you were [formerly] as the stars of heaven as far as number [is concerned], because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. {And then} as Yahweh delighted over you {to make you prosperous} to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you and to destroy you, and [so] you shall be plucked from the land that you [are] going there to take possession of it. And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from [one] end of the earth up to the [other] end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor your ancestors, [gods of] wood and stone. And among these nations you shall not find rest, and [there] shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes and a languishing of [your] inner self. And {your life shall hang in doubt before you}, and you shall be startled night and day, and you shall not be confident of your life. In the morning you shall say, '{If only it was evening}!' and in the evening you shall say '{If only it was morning}!' because of the dread of your heart that you shall feel, and because of the sight of your eyes that you shall see. And Yahweh shall bring you back [to] Egypt in ships by the route that I {promised} to you [that] '{You shall not see it again}!' And you shall sell yourself there to your enemies as slaves and as female slaves, but there will not be a buyer."

And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "How long [will I bear] this evil community who are grumbling against me? I have heard the grumbling of the {Israelites} which {they are making} against me. Say to them, 'Surely as I live,' {declares} Yahweh, 'just as you spoke {in my hearing}, so I will do to you; read more.
in this desert your corpses will fall, and all your counted ones, according to all your number, from {twenty years old} and above who grumbled against me. You [yourselves] will not come into the land that {I swore by oath} to make you to dwell in it, but Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. But your little children, whom you said would be plunder, I will bring them, and they will know the land that you rejected. But for you, all your corpses will fall in this desert. And your children will be shepherds in the desert forty years, and you will bear your unfaithfulness until {all your corpses have fallen} in the desert. According to the number of the days that you explored the land, forty days, {a day for each year}, you will bear your sins forty years, and you will know my opposition.' I, Yahweh, have spoken; I will surely do this to all this evil community who has banded together against me. In this desert they will come to an end, and there they will die." As for the men whom Moses sent to explore the land, who returned and made the community grumble against him by spreading a report over the land, the men who spread the evil report of the land died by the plague {before Yahweh}. But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh lived from [among] the men who went to explore the land. And Moses spoke words to all the {Israelites}, and the people mourned greatly. They rose early in the morning and went to the top of the mount, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that Yahweh said, because we have sinned." But Moses said, "Why [are] you going against the command of Yahweh? It will not succeed. You should not go up because Yahweh is not in your midst; do not let yourselves be defeated in the presence of your enemies, because the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there {before you}, and you will fall by the sword; because you have turned [back] from Yahweh, and Yahweh will not be with you." But they dared to go to the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and Moses did not depart from the midst of the camp. So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who were living on the mountain descended, and they beat them down, up to Hormah.

So Yahweh said to me, 'Say to them, "You shall not go up, and you shall not fight because I am not in your midst; you will be defeated {before} your enemies." '

And {my anger shall flare up against them} on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall become as prey, and disasters and troubles shall find them, and they shall say on that day, '[Is it] not because our God is not in our midst [that] these disasters have found us?' But I will certainly hide my face on that day, because [of] all of the evil that they did because they turned to other gods.


And take a bunch of hyssop and dip [it] into the blood that [is] in the basin and apply [some] of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts. And you will not go out, anyone from the doorway of his house, until morning.


And Pharaoh sent [to check], and {it turned out} not even one from the livestock of Israel had died, but Pharaoh's heart was {insensitive}, and he did not release the people.

And the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firmly on the dry land in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation finished crossing the Jordan.


And they said to Moses, saying, "The people are {bringing more} than enough for the service of the work that Yahweh has commanded {to be done}."


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."

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}.

And they answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you will send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses, so will we obey you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Whoever {rebels against your orders} and does not obey your words according to what you commanded us will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous."

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. 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.

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}.

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."

All these [were] men of war arrayed in battle line {with a whole heart}. They came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel [had] one heart to make David king.


All the {Israelites} went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body to Yahweh [at] Mizpah. 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. (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?"


King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite;

Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

And Shaharaim fathered [children] in the fields of Moab after he had sent them away--Hushim and Baara, his wives.

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.


And Yahweh said to me, 'You shall not attack Moab, and you shall not engage in war with them, for I will not give you any of his land [as] a possession; I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot [as] a possession.'

and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah, 'Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the {Ammonites},


You shall not promote their welfare or their prosperity all your days {forever}.


When Israel dwelled in Shittim, the people began to prostitute [themselves] with the daughters of Moab. And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and worshiped their gods. So Israel was joined together to Baal Peor, and {Yahweh became angry} with Israel.


And Yahweh said, "Surely I have seen the misery of my people who [are] in Egypt, and I have heard their cry of distress because of their oppressors, for I know their sufferings. And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of [the] Egyptians and to bring them up from this land to a good and wide land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. And now, look, the cry of distress of the {Israelites} has come to me, and also I see the oppression [with] which [the] Egyptians [are] oppressing them. read more.
And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and [you must] bring my people, the {Israelites}, out from Egypt."


The next day all the community of the {Israelites} grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of Yahweh!"

The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest [this] miserable food." And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died.

While the meat [was] still between their teeth, before it was consumed, Yahweh was angry with the people, and Yahweh struck a very great plague among the people.

And all the community of the {Israelites} grumbled against Moses and against Aaron in the desert. And the {Israelites} said to them, "{If only we had died} by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread {until we were full}, because you have brought us out to this desert to kill all of this assembly with hunger."

And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, "Give us water so that we can drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?" And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why {ever} did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me and my sons and my cattle with thirst?"

And they said to them, "May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants [so as] to put a sword into their hand to kill us."

There was no water for the community, and they were gathered before Moses and Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, "If only we died when our brothers were dying {before} Yahweh! Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh, us and our livestock, into this desert to die here? read more.
Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranate trees, and there is not water to drink."

And they said to Moses, "Because there are no graves in Egypt? Is that why you have taken us to die in the desert? What [is] this you have done to us by bringing us out from Egypt! Isn't this the word we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone [so that] we can serve Egypt!' because serving Egypt is better for us than our dying in the desert."

And they came to Marah, and they were not able to drink water from Marah because it was bitter. Therefore {it was named} Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"

And it happened, the people were like those who {complain of hardship} {in the hearing} of Yahweh, and Yahweh {became angry}, and the fire of Yahweh burned among them, and it consumed the edge of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire died down. And he called the name of that place Taberah because the fire of Yahweh burned among them. read more.
The riff-raff that [were] in their midst {had a strong desire}; and the {Israelites} turned back and also wept, and they said, "Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumber, melon, leek, the onions, and the garlic. But now {our strength is dried up}; there is nothing whatsoever except {for the manna before us}." Now the manna [was] like coriander seed, and its outward appearance was like that of bdellium-gum. The people went about and gathered [it], and they ground [it] with mills or crushed [it] with mortar. Then they boiled [it] in a pot and made it [into] bread-cakes; and it tasted like olive oil cakes. When the dew came down on the camp [at] night, the manna came down [with] it. Moses heard the people weeping according to their clans, each at the doorway of their tents. Then {Yahweh became very angry}, and in the eyes of Moses it was bad.

And you grumbled in your tents, and you said, 'Because of the hatred of Yahweh [toward] us he has brought us out from the land of Egypt to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Where [can] we go up? Our brothers have {made our hearts melt}, {saying}, "The people are greater and taller than we are, [and there are] great fortified cities [reaching] up to heaven, and we saw the sons of the Anakites [living] there." '


But because all the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert yet tested me these ten times and did not listen to my voice,


And they built the high place of Topheth, which [is] in [the] Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I have not commanded, and it did not come into my mind.

and they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their children in the fire, burnt offerings to Baal, which I commanded not, and I ordered not, and it did not come to my {mind}.

And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable [practices] of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites.

He walked in the way of the kings of Israel; he even let his son pass through the fire according to the detestable things of the nations which Yahweh drove out from before the {Israelites}.

And they built the high places of Baal that [are] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my {mind} to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin."

'And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten, {as if your whorings were not enough}. And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them {to be sacrificed to them}.

and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, {this is what they did in my house}!

who burn with lust among the oaks, under every leafy tree, who slaughter children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

And I defiled them through their gifts in sacrificing all of [the] first offspring of [the] womb, in order that I will cause them to be stunned, so that they will know that I [am] Yahweh.

He defiled the Topheth which [is] in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, {to prevent} anyone causing his sons or his daughters to pass through the fire for Molech.

And {when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children} through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until {today}, and will I let myself be consulted by you, house of Israel?" ' {As I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "I will not let myself be consulted by you!

For they committed adultery, and blood [is] on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me--they sacrificed them as food!


Yahweh said, "I have forgiven [them] according to your word;


Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!" Then all the people said, "Amen!" and praised Yahweh.


And Moses said to Yahweh, "Why have you brought trouble to your servant? Why have I not found favor in your eyes, that the burdens of all these people have been placed on me? Did I conceive all these people? If I have fathered them, that you could say to me, 'Carry them in your lap, just as a foster-father carries the suckling on the land that you swore an oath to their ancestors?' From where do I have meat to give all these people? They weep before me, saying, 'Give us meat and let us eat!' read more.
I am not able to carry all these people along alone; they are too heavy for me. If this is how you [are] going to treat me, please kill me immediately if I find favor in your eyes, and do not let me see my misery." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy men from the elders of Israel whom you know [are] elders of the people and their officials; take them to the tent of assembly, and they will stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there; I will take away from the spirit that [is] on you, and I will place [it] on them; and they will bear the burdens of the people with you; you will not bear it alone. And you will say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves tomorrow, for you will eat meat because you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, "Who will feed us good meat? [It was] good for us in Egypt." Yahweh will give to you meat, and you will eat. You will eat, not one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, {but for a whole month}, until it comes out from your nose and becomes as nausea to you; because you have rejected Yahweh, who [is] in your midst, and you wept before {his presence}, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" '" But Moses said, "[There are] six hundred thousand on foot, among whom I [am] in the midst, and you yourself said, 'I will give meat to them, and they will eat for a whole month.' Should flocks and cattle be slaughtered for them? Should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be enough for them?" And Yahweh said to Moses, "{Is Yahweh's power limited}? Now you will see if my word will happen or not." So Moses went out, and he spoke the words of Yahweh to the people, and he gathered [together] seventy men from the elders of the people, and he {made them stand} all around the tent. Then Yahweh went down in the cloud and spoke to him, and he took away the spirit that [was] on him, and he {put it} on the seventy elders. And as soon as the spirit was resting on them they prophesied, but they did not do it again. But two men were left in the camp; the name of one [was] Eldad, and the name of the second [was] Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those who were written [down], but they did not go out to the tent, so they prophesied in the camp. So a boy ran and told Moses and said, "Eldad and Medad [are] prophesying in the camp." And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from time of his youth, answered, "Moses, my lord, stop them." But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that he give all Yahweh's people prophets, that Yahweh put his spirit on them!" Then Moses and the elders of Israel were gathered to the camp. Then a wind set out from Yahweh, and it drove quails from the west, and he spread [them] out on the camp about a day's journey on one side and about a day's journey on the other, all around the camp, about two cubits on the surface of the land. And so the people {worked} all day and all night and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the least of the ones collecting gathered ten homers). While the meat [was] still between their teeth, before it was consumed, Yahweh was angry with the people, and Yahweh struck a very great plague among the people. And he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah because they buried the people that {were greedy}. From Kibroth Hattaavah the people set out [to] Hazeroth; and they stayed in Hazeroth.


{And then} during those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the {Israelites} groaned because of the work, and they cried out, and their cry for help because of the work went up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,


But they dared to go to the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and Moses did not depart from the midst of the camp.


And when Yahweh sent you [out] from Kadesh Barnea, {saying}, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen to his voice. You have been rebellious toward Yahweh {from the day I have known you}.


And the {Israelites} heard [it] said that the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar next to the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side [belonging to] the {Israelites}. When the {Israelites} heard [of it], the whole congregation of the {Israelites} gathered [at] Shiloh to go up against them for battle. And the {Israelites} sent to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, Phinehas the priest son of Eleazar, read more.
and ten leaders with him, {one leader for each} {family} from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one [was] the head of {his family} among the clans of Israel. They came to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, "Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: 'What [is] this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh? [Is] not the sin of Peor {enough for us}, from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh, that you must turn today from following Yahweh? [If] you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel; if, however, the land of your property [is] unclean, cross [over] to the land of Yahweh's property, where Yahweh's tabernacle resides, and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God. Did not Achan son of Zerah commit treachery with devoted things, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? {And he alone} did not perish because of his iniquity.'"


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. And {the anger of Yahweh burned} against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of [the] Philistines and the {Ammonites}. 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. read more.
The {Ammonites} crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was very distressed. Then the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, saying, "We have sinned against you; we have abandoned our God and served the Baals." And Yahweh said to the {Israelites}, "[Did I] not [deliver you] from [the] Egyptians, the Amorites, from the {Ammonites}, and from the Philistines? And when [the] Sidonians, [the] Amalekites, and [the] Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from their hand. Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your trouble." And the {Israelites} said to Yahweh, "We have sinned; {do to us accordingly as you see fit}; only please deliver us this day." So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel.

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." So the {Israelites} removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and they served Yahweh alone. Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you." read more.
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.


And the {Israelites} said to Yahweh, "We have sinned; {do to us accordingly as you see fit}; only please deliver us this day." So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel.


So then take your stand again and see this great thing that Yahweh [is going to] do before your eyes. [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." So Samuel called out to Yahweh, and Yahweh brought thunder and rain that [same] day, so all the people feared Yahweh and Samuel greatly. read more.
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." 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.


Now Azariah the son of Oded--the Spirit of God came upon him. And he went out before Asa and said to him, "Hear me, O Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh [is] with you while you are with him. And if you will seek him he will be found by you. But if you forsake him he will forsake you. Now Israel [has been] without the true God many days, and without a teaching priest, and without law, read more.
but at its trouble he returned to Yahweh, the God of Israel. They sought him, and he was found by them. And in those times there was no peace for the one going out and the one coming in, for great tumults [were] upon all the inhabitants of the lands. Nation was crushed by nation, and city [was] against city, for God threw them into confusion by all [sorts of] trouble. But as for you, be strong and let not your hands be weak, for there is reward for your labor." And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the vile idols from all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was in front of the portico of Yahweh. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those sojourning with them, from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for many had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God [was] with him. And they were gathered [at] Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they sacrificed to Yahweh on that day from the war booty they brought back: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their inmost being, but all who will not seek Yahweh the God of Israel should be killed, from young to old, from men to women. And they took an oath to Yahweh with a great voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with horns. And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they swore with all their heart. And they sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and Yahweh gave rest to them all around.


Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded [was] his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, "Look, [it is] on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, against Judah [that] he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens. So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. {Is there not also guilt on your part} against Yahweh your God? So now, listen to me and return the captives of your brothers whom you have taken captive, for the fierce anger of Yahweh [is] against you." read more.
Then men from the heads of Ephraim--Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai--stood against those returning from the fight. And they said to them, "You shall not bring the captives here, for [it is] as guilt [against] Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and [there is] great anger against Israel." So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly. Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys [provided] for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.


Only men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.


[Go] to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you, because you [are] a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way." And the people heard this troubling word, and they mourned, and they each did not put their ornaments on themselves.


They set out from Mount Hor [by] the way of the {Red Sea} to go around the land of Edom; but {the people became impatient} along the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest [this] miserable food." And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died. read more.
The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the snakes from among us." So Moses prayed for the people.


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. 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}? 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." read more.
And as the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the {Israelites}, the people {wept bitterly}. And they called the name of this place Bokim, and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.


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


And Ephraim said, "Surely, I am rich, I gained wealth for myself; in all my toil they have not found guilt in me that is [sin].


then take care for yourself, so that you [do] not forget Yahweh, who brought you out from the land of Egypt from the house of slavery.

Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land." And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their {forced labor}, and they built storage cities for Pharaoh--Pithom and Rameses. And as he oppressed them, so they became many, and so they spread out, and [the Egyptians] were afraid because of the presence of the {Israelites}. read more.
And the Egyptians ruthlessly compelled the {Israelites} to work. And they made their lives bitter with hard work with mortar and with bricks and with all [sorts] of work in the field--with all their work in which they ruthlessly enslaved them. And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives--of whom the name of the one [was] Shiphrah and the name of the second [was] Puah-- and he said, "When you help the Hebrews give birth, you will look upon the pairs of testicles; if he [is] a son, you will put him to death, and if she [is] a daughter, she will live." But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had said to them. They let the boys live. And the king of Egypt summoned the midwives, and he said to them, "Why have you done this thing and let the boys live?" And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew [women are] not like the Egyptian women, because they [are] vigorous; before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth." And God did the midwives good, and the [Israelite] people became many and were very numerous. {And so} because the midwives feared God, he gave them {families}. And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you will throw into the Nile, and every daughter you will let live."

"You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like {before}. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the quota of the bricks that they [were] making {before} {you must require of them}. You must not reduce from it, because they [are] lazy. Therefore they [are] crying out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception." read more.
And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, "Thus says Pharaoh, 'I [am] not giving you straw. You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.'" And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. And the slave drivers [were] insisting, saying, "Finish your work {for each day} on its day, as {when there was straw}." And the foremen of the {Israelites}, whom Pharaoh's slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten [by men who were] saying, "Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking {as before, both yesterday and today}?"

Then you shall say to your child, 'We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand.


How can I bear you {by myself}, your burden and your load and your strife?


How can I bear you {by myself}, your burden and your load and your strife?


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."

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. Furthermore, the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.


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."


Ah! Those who go down [to] Egypt for help! They rely on horses and trust in chariots because [they are] many, and in horsemen because they are very numerous, and they do not look to the holy one of Israel, and they do not consult Yahweh.


But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors who did not believe in Yahweh their God.

And when Yahweh sent you [out] from Kadesh Barnea, {saying}, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen to his voice.


And when Yahweh sent you [out] from Kadesh Barnea, {saying}, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen to his voice.


You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine and strong drink, so that you may know that I [am] Yahweh your God.


And they tested God in their heart [by] asking food {for their craving}.

While the meat [was] still between their teeth, before it was consumed, Yahweh was angry with the people, and Yahweh struck a very great plague among the people. And he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah because they buried the people that {were greedy}.

So they ate and were well filled, and he brought about [what] they craved. They had not yet turned aside from their craving, [while] their food [was] still in their mouth, the anger of God rose against them, and he killed some of the stoutest of them, even the young men of Israel he caused to bow down [in death].


References

American

Watsons