When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons, “Bring me another container.” But he answered her, “There are no more.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing.

So they started toward the Syrian camp at dusk. When they reached the edge of the Syrian camp, there was no one there.

The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, so their whole clan was not as numerous as the sons of Judah.

For we are resident foreigners and nomads in your presence, like all our ancestors; our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. (It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)

The priests left the holy place. All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented.

and prayed: “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity.

He had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and an innumerable number of soldiers who accompanied him from Egypt, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites.

He built fortified cities throughout Judah, for the land was at rest and there was no war during those years; the Lord gave him peace.

In those days no one could travel safely, for total chaos had overtaken all the people of the surrounding lands.

Respect the Lord and make careful decisions, for the Lord our God disapproves of injustice, partiality, and bribery.”

When the men of Judah arrived at the observation post overlooking the desert and looked at the huge army, they saw dead bodies on the ground; there were no survivors!

But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his warnings, and ridiculed his prophets. Finally the Lord got very angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment.

People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly that the sound was heard a long way off.

Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?

There were no restrictions on the drinking, for the king had instructed all of his supervisors that they should do as everyone so desired.

But he went no further than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

Yet all of this fails to satisfy me so long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

For we have been sold – both I and my people – to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”