Now Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons, and little children. Then Moses said, "This is how you'll know that the LORD has sent me to do all these awesome works they're not coming merely from me.

As for the censers of those rebels who died, fasten them into beaten plates to line the altar. Since they brought them into the LORD's presence, they're holy. They are to become a reminder to the Israelis."

They are to take care of your concerns and all the responsibilities involved with the tent. But they're not to approach the holy vessels or the altar. That way, neither you nor they will die.

This is what is to belong to you from consecrated offerings spared from the fire: all of their offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings that they render to me. They're to be considered most sacred to you and your sons.

You may eat them as consecrated gifts. Every male may eat them. They're sacred for you.

But still he replied, "No. You're not to pass through." Then Edom went out to meet Moses with a vast army and a lot of military might.

the people complained against the LORD and Moses. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" they asked. "There's no food and water, and we're tired of this worthless bread."

But God told Balaam, "Don't go with them. Don't curse the people, because they're blessed."

"Because you're playing a dirty trick on me," Balaam answered the donkey. "If only I had a sword in my hand! I'd kill you right now!"

But in response, the donkey asked Balaam, "I'm your donkey that you've ridden on in the past without incident, am I not, and I'm the same donkey you're riding on right now, am I not? Am I in the habit of treating you like this?" "No," he admitted.

Then the angel of the LORD asked him, "Why did you beat your donkey in the space of only three footsteps? I've come to oppose you, because I say that what you're doing is perverted.

They're spread out like valleys, like gardens along river banks, like aloe planted by the LORD, or like cedars beside water.

And now, look! You're acting just like your ancestors, like a brood of sinful men, who are provoking the fierce anger of the LORD against the Israelis one step at a time.

Then they approached him and said, "Here's where we're going to build corrals for our cattle and cities for our families,

"Issue these orders to the Israelis: "You're about to enter the land of Canaan. This territory has been apportioned to you as your inheritance: the entire land of Canaan, all the way to its borders.'"

I'm going to die in this land and I won't cross the Jordan River, but you're about to cross over to possess that good land.

It will be credited as righteousness for us, if we're careful to obey the entire Law in the presence of the LORD our God, as he commanded.'"

They're across the Jordan River to the west, aren't they, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?

Be sure you destroy there all the places where the nations that you're going to dispossess serve their gods upon the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree.

He will say to them, "Listen, Israel! You're about to go into battle today against your enemies. Don't be faint-hearted. Don't be afraid, don't panic, and don't be terrified to face them.

because they're not just empty words for you they are your very life. Through these instructions you will live long in the land that you are about to cross over the Jordan River to possess."

"I'm really convinced that the LORD has given you the land," she said, "because we're overwhelmed with fear of you. All the other inhabitants of the land are demoralized at your presence,

Be sure to keep a distance of about 2,000 cubits between you and it. Don't come near it, so you can be certain where you're going, since you haven't passed this way before."

The commander of the LORD's Army replied to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you're standing is holy." So Joshua did so.

The Israelis have been unable to stand before their enemies. They're turning their backs and running from their enemies because they themselves have been turned over to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy these things that have been turned over to destruction.

I noticed among the war spoils a beautiful mantle from Shinar, 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. Because I wanted them, I took them, and they're buried in the ground inside my tent. The silver is underneath."

And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look now they're cracked. And our clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey."

Now we're under your control: do to us as it seems good and right in your opinion."

At that time, the descendants of Joseph asked Joshua, "Why did you give us only one allotment and portion for an inheritance, since we're numerous and the LORD has blessed us all along?"

So Joshua replied to them, "Since you're so numerous, go up to the forest and clear ground there for yourselves in the territory where the Perizzites and Rephaim are, because the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you."

So Joshua told the tribes of Joseph, which were Ephraim and Manasseh, "You're truly a numerous group, and you have great power. You are not to have only one allotment,

but the hill country will also belong to you. Even though it's a forest, you will clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. You'll drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and even though they're strong."

Now you're more cursed than the ground, which has opened to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

"You're driving me from the soil today. I'll be hidden from you, and I'll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive. In the future, whoever finds me will kill me."

So the LORD said, "My Spirit won't remain with human beings forever, because they're truly mortal. Their lifespan will be 120 years."

I gave you a land for which you never worked and cities that you didn't build, but that you have lived in. You're eating from vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant.'

She responded, "I will surely go with you, but the road that you're about to take will not lead to honor for you. The LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak toward Kedesh.

Meanwhile, as Barak continued chasing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. "Come with me," she told him, "and I'll show you the man you're looking for!" So he went with her, and there was Sisera, lying dead with the tent peg still embedded in his temple!

"They're busy finding and dividing the war booty, aren't they? A girl or two for each valiant warrior, and some dyed materials for Sisera perhaps dyed, embroidered war booty or some detailed embroidery for my neck as the booty of war!

So Gideon asked him, "Please, if I have received favor from you, then do a miracle for me that shows that you're making this promise to me.

"Calm down! Don't be afraid." the LORD replied. "You're not going to die!"

That's why you're to ask in full view of the soldiers, "Whoever is afraid or is trembling may go back from Mount Gilead and return home." So 22,000 soldiers left and 10,000 remained.

But if you're afraid to go down there, you may take your servant Purah with you to their encampment,

where you will hear what they're talking about. That way, you'll be encouraged to attack the encampment." So he and his servant Purah went down to the perimeter outposts of the encamped army.

He told the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the soldiers who are following behind me. They're tired, and I'm pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

When he was about to enter Egypt, he told his wife Sarai, "Look, I'm aware that you're a beautiful woman.

After Lot had separated from Abram, the LORD told Abram, "Look off to the north, south, east, and west from where you're living,

So if you've acted in good faith and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his household today, then you're welcome to Abimelech, and he's welcome to you"

He sent messengers to Abimelech in secret and told him, "Look out! Ebed's son Gaal and his family have arrived here in Shechem. Watch out! They're stirring up the city against you.

When Gaal saw the army, he observed to Zebul, "Look there! People are coming down from the top of the mountains." But Zebul replied to him, "You're looking at morning shadows cast by the mountains. They just look like men to you."

Gilead's wife bore two sons through him, but when his wife's sons grew up, they expelled Jephthah and declared to him, "You won't have an inheritance in this house, since you're the son of a different woman."

But Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, "Weren't you the ones who hated me and drove me out of my father's house? And you come to me now that you're in trouble?"

So the elders of Gilead told Jephthah, "Well, we're coming back to you now so you can accompany us, fight the Ammonites, and become the head of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

The elders of Gilead responded to Jephthah, "May the Lord serve as a witness that we're making this agreement between ourselves to do as we've said."

The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, "We're here because Israel took away my land from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and as far as the Jordan River when they came up from Egypt! So restore it as a gesture of good will."

A little while later, the army of Ephraim was mustered, and they crossed to Zaphon. They confronted Jephthah and asked, "Why did you cross over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to accompany you? We're going to burn your house down around you!"

One day the angel of the LORD presented himself to the woman. "Hello!" he greeted her. "Though you are infertile at this time and haven't borne a child, you're about to conceive and give birth to a son.

because surprise! you're going to conceive and give birth to a son! Don't put a razor to his head, because the young man will be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from inside the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from domination by the Philistines."

He told me, "Surprise! you're going to conceive and give birth to a son!' and as for you, "Be sure that you don't drink wine or anything intoxicating, and don't eat anything unclean,' "because the young man will be a Nazirite dedicated to God from inside the womb' until the day he dies."

Then Manoah told his wife, "We're going to die for sure, because we've seen God!"

His father and mother asked him, "Isn't there a woman suitable among the daughters of your relatives or among all of our people, since you're going to get your wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?"

So they said, "No, we won't. But we're going to tie you up securely and transfer you to their custody. But we won't kill you." Then they bound him with two ropes and brought him up from the caves.

Later on, Delilah told Samson, "You're still mocking me and telling me lies! Tell me how to tie you up!" He answered her, "If you weave the seven locks on my head into a loom and fasten it with a peg, then I will become weak and just like any other human being."

The priest responded to them, "Travel in peace. The mission that you're to accomplish is from the LORD."

But his master replied, "We're not going to turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not part of the Israelis. Instead, we'll go on to Gibeah."

He replied, "We're traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the mountainous region of Ephraim, because I'm from there, and I've been visiting Bethlehem in Judah. I'm going home now, but no one will take me into his home.

This is what we'll do to Gibeah: we're going to assemble an army by lottery.

Then the descendants of Benjamin told themselves, "They're falling right in front of us, just like before!"

The army of Israel turned around in the battle, and the army of Benjamin began to attack and kill about 30 soldiers, thinking, "Now we're really defeating them, just like before."

You're to completely destroy every man and every married woman."

So Abraham responded to God, "If only Ishmael would live in constant awareness that you're always with him!"

Look here, I have two daughters who are virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever you wish, only don't do anything to these men, because they're here under my protection."

But they replied, "Get out of the way! This man came here as a foreigner, and now he's acting like a judge! So we're going to deal more harshly with you than with them." Then they pushed hard against the man (that is, against Lot), intending to break down the door.

because we're going to destroy it. Their outcry has come to the attention of the LORD, so he sent us here to destroy it!"

But God came to Abimelech in a dream during the night and spoke to him, "Pay attention! You're about to die, because the woman you have taken is a man's wife!"

About that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, told Abraham, "God is with you in everything that you're doing.

At this she fell prostrate, bowing low to the ground, and asked him, "Why is it that you're showing me kindness by noticing me, since I'm a foreigner?"

Don't be afraid, my daughter. I'll do for you everything that you have asked, since all of my people in town are aware that you're a virtuous woman.

Boaz continued, "On the very day you buy the field from Naomi, you're also "buying" Ruth the Moabite woman, the wife of her dead husband, so the family name may be continued as an inheritance."

Then Samuel told the whole house of Israel, "If you're returning to the LORD with all your heart, then remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, direct your hearts back to the LORD, and serve him only. Then he will deliver you from the control of the Philistines."

They told him, "Look, you're old, and your sons don't follow your example. So appoint a king to govern us like all the other nations."

Like all the things they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this very day, they have forsaken me and followed other gods. They're also doing the same thing to you.

They'll greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you're to accept from them.

Don't turn aside after useless things that cannot profit or deliver because they're useless.

Jonathan said, "Look, we're going over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.

Isaac re-excavated some wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had filled them with sand after Abraham's death. Isaac renamed those wells with the same names that his father had called them.

"We've seen that the LORD is with you," they responded, "so we're proposing an agreement between us between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you

So Isaac told Jacob, "Come here, my son, so I can feel you and know for sure whether or not you're my son Esau."

The LORD sent you on a mission: "Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they're destroyed.'

Someone replied, "They're at Naioth in Ramah." Saul went to Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God came on him also. He continued in prophetic ecstasy until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

David's men told him, "Look, we're afraid here in Judah. How much then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine army?"

And there was the LORD, standing above it and telling Jacob, "I am the LORD God of your grandfather Abraham. I'm Isaac's God, too. I'm giving you and your descendants the ground on which you're sleeping.

Jacob asked them, "My brothers, where are you from?" "We're from Haran," they answered.

Later, Laban asked Jacob, "Should you serve me for free, just because you're my nephew? Let's talk about what your wages should be."

When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went to meet him and told him, "You're having sex with me tonight. I traded my son's mandrakes for you!" So he slept with her that night.

Give me my wives and children for whom I've served you. Then I'll leave, since you're aware of my service to you."

then you are to reply, "We're from your servant Jacob. The herds are a gift. He's sending them to my master, Esau. Look! There he is, coming along behind us.'"

Achish answered David, "I know that I'm pleased with you. You're like an angel of God. But the Philistine leaders have said, "He mustn't go into battle with us.'

What Ish-bosheth said made Abner furious, so he replied, "A dog's head for Judah is that what I am? Up until today I've kept on showing loyalty to your father Saul's dynasty, to his relatives and friends, and I haven't turned you over to David, but you're charging me today with moral guilt regarding this woman!

David replied, "Sounds good to me! I'll cut a deal with you under one condition: you're not to show yourself in my presence unless you bring Saul's daughter with you when you come to see me."