Now the {length of time} that we had traveled from Kadesh Barnea until [the time when] we crossed the wadi of Zered [was] thirty-eight years, until the perishing of all of that generation; [that is], the men of war from the midst of the camp as Yahweh had sworn to them.

But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his [territory] because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and {made him obstinate} {in order to give him} into your hand, {just as he has now done}.

Now instruct Joshua and support him and encourage him because he himself will cross [over] before this people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.'

"Now, Israel, listen to the rules and to the regulations that I [am] teaching you to do, in order that you may live and you may go [in] and you may take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, [is] giving to you.

See, I now teach you rules and regulations [just] as Yahweh my God has commanded me, to observe [them] [just] so in the midst of the land where you [are] going, to take possession of it.

Now this [is] the law that Moses set {before} the {Israelites};

"Now this [is] the commandment, the rules and the regulations, that Yahweh your God charged to teach [to] you [for you] {to observe} in the land that you [are] about to cross [over] into to take possession of it,

And Yahweh said to me, 'Come [now], go down quickly from this mountain because your people behave corruptly whom you brought out from Egypt, [for] they turned quickly from the way that I commanded them [to follow]; they have made for themselves a cast image.'

And now, Israel, what [is] Yahweh your God asking from you, except to revere Yahweh your God, to go in all his ways and to love him and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

With [only] seventy persons your ancestors went down to Egypt, but now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of the heaven {with respect to multitude}.

For you are [now] about to cross the Jordan to go to take possession of the land that Yahweh, your God, [is] giving to you, and you will take possession of it and live in it,

For you have not come up to now to the resting place and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you.

Now these [are] the ones you shall not eat {any of them}: the eagle and the vulture and the short-toed eagle,

Now this shall be the share of the priest from the people, from {those who sacrifice the sacrifice}, [whether it is] an ox, sheep, or goat, and they shall give the priest the shoulder and the jawbones and the stomach.

"Now this [is] the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live [there] who has killed his neighbor {unintentionally}, and he did not hate him {previously}.

And [then] the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man as wife, but he [now] {dislikes} her,

and now look {he has accused her falsely}, saying, "I did not find {your daughter a virgin}," but here [is] [evidence of] the virginity of my daughter'; and they shall spread the cloth [out] {before} the elders of the city.

And now, look, I am bringing the firstfruit of the fruit of the ground that you gave to me, Yahweh,' and you shall place it {before} Yahweh your God, and you shall bow down {before} Yahweh your God.

"Now I am not {making this covenant} and this oath {with you alone}.

For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck [even now] while I [am] still alive with you {today}, rebelling against Yahweh, and {how much more} after my death.

See, now, that I, [even] I [am] he, and there is not a god besides me; I put to death and I give life; I wound and I heal; there is not [one] who delivers from my hand!

Now this [is] the blessing [with] which Moses, the man of God, blessed the {Israelites} {before} his death.

{Now Moses was a hundred and twenty years old} {when he died}; {his sight was not impaired and his vigor had not abated}.

Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had placed his hands on him, and the {Israelites} listened to him, and they did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

And he said, "Neither. I have come now [as] the commander of Yahweh's army." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and {he bowed down} and said to him, "What [is] my lord commanding his servant?"

Now Jericho [was] shut up inside and out because of the presence of the {Israelites}; no one was going out or coming in.

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho [to] Ai, which [is] near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and he said to them, "Go up and spy out Ai." And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Now when all the kings who [were] beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the Shephelah, and on all the coast of the great sea toward Lebanon--the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites--heard of [this],

This [is] our bread; [it was] hot [when] we took it from our houses as provisions on the day we set out to come to you. But now, look, it is dry and crumbled.

Now Joshua was old [and] {advanced in years}, and Yahweh said to him, "You are old [and] {advanced in years}, and very much of the land remains to be possessed.

So then, look, Yahweh has kept me alive just as he promised these forty-five years, from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses while Israel {wandered} in the wilderness. Now look, today {I am eighty-five years old}.

Today I am still strong, just as on the day that Moses sent me; as my strength [was] then, so now also [is] my strength for war {and for daily activities}.

So now give me this hill country that Yahweh spoke [of] on that day, for you heard on that day that the Anakites [were] there, with great and fortified cities. Perhaps Yahweh [is] with me, and I will drive them out just as Yahweh promised."

Now the towns of the tribes of the descendants of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek Keziz,

"So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh.

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."

Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon [was] a very fat man.

Now at that time Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, [was] judging Israel.

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."

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."

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;

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.

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?

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

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}.

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?'"

Now Gideon had seventy sons, {his own offspring}, for he had many wives.

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."

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?"

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."

And Manoah said to him, "Now {when your words come true}, what will be the boy's {manner of life} and work?"

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."

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.

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?"

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."

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."

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

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?'"

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}.

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.

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

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}."

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?

Now truly I [am] a redeemer, but there is also a redeemer [of a] closer relationship than me.

(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.)

Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,

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.

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.

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

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.)

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.

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

Now the sons of Eli [were] {worthless scoundrels}; they did not know Yahweh.

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!"

Now Samuel [was] serving before Yahweh, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

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.

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?

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!

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.

{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)

Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him.

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.

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.

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.

Now Eli [was] {ninety-eight years old} and his eyes {stayed fixed ahead} and he was not able to see.

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.

Now [the] Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

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.

Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of [the] Philistines [for] seven months,

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].

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.

[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}.

Now when Samuel heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of Yahweh.

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}.

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."

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.

Now Yahweh {had revealed this to} Samuel the day before Saul arrived, saying,

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?'

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."

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.