Now, hand over the good-for-nothings<n id="1" /> in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.&#8221;<n id="2" /> But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the <sc>Lordsc>, who then will intercede for him?&#8221; But Eli&#8217;s sons<n id="1" /> would not listen to their father, for the <sc>Lordsc> had decided<n id="2" /> to kill them.p>

<p class="bodytext">As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel.<n id="1" /> But on that day the <sc>Lordsc> thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by<n id="2" /> Israel.

The <sc>Lordsc> said to Samuel, &#8220;Do everything the people request of you.<n id="1" /> For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king.

If you fear the <sc>Lordsc>, serving him and obeying him<n id="1" /> and not rebelling against what he says,<n id="2" /> and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the <sc>Lordsc> your God, all will be well.<n id="3" />

Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the <sc>Lordsc> so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the <sc>Lordsc> by asking for a king for yourselves.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Saul said to Samuel, &#8220;But I have obeyed<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>! I went on the campaign<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> sent me on. I brought back King Agag of the Amalekites after exterminating the Amalekites.

Since you did not obey the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the <sc>Lordsc> has done this thing to you today.

When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, &#8220;Your servant has done what you asked.<n id="1" /> I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">All the land was weeping loudly<n id="1" /> as all these people were leaving.<n id="2" /> As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving<n id="3" /> on the road that leads to the desert.

When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, &#8220;Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.<n id="1" />

So they took a bull, as he had suggested,<n id="1" /> and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, &#8220;Baal, answer us.&#8221; But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped<n id="2" /> around on the altar they had made.<n id="3" />

At noon Elijah mocked them, &#8220;Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.&#8221;<n id="1" />

Muster an army like the one you lost, with the same number of horses and chariots.<n id="1" /> Then we will fight them in the plains; we will certainly overpower them.&#8221; He approved their plan and did as they advised.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child&#8217;s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha<n id="1" /> he told him, &#8220;The child did not wake up.&#8221;

So they went and called out to the gatekeepers<n id="1" /> of the city. They told them, &#8220;We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn&#8217;t even hear a man&#8217;s voice.<n id="2" /> But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.&#8221;<n id="3" />

This happened because they did not obey<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> their God and broke his agreement with them.<n id="2" /> They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s servant, had commanded.<n id="3" />p>

So they sent an edict<n id="1" /> throughout Israel from Beer Sheba to Dan, summoning the people<n id="2" /> to come and observe a Passover for the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they had not observed it on a nationwide scale as prescribed in the law.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the first year of the reign of<n id="1" /> King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the promise he delivered through Jeremiah,<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> moved<n id="3" /> King Cyrus of Persia to issue a written decree throughout his kingdom.

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">In the first<n id="2" /> year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the <sc>Lord&#8217;ssc> message<n id="3" /> spoken through<n id="4" /> Jeremiah,<n id="5" /> the <sc>Lordsc> stirred the mind<n id="6" /> of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated<n id="7" /> a proclamation<n id="8" /> throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict<n id="9" /> the following:<n id="10" />p>