Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the <sc>Lordsc> your God.p>

This is what will happen: Just as the <sc>Lordsc> delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he<n id="1" /> will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess.

<p class="bodytext">When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders and clan leaders who accompanied him heard the defense of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites,<n id="1" /> they were satisfied.<n id="2" />

The Israelites were satisfied with their report and gave thanks to God.<n id="1" /> They said nothing more about launching an attack to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites lived.<n id="2" />

When the man got ready to leave<n id="1" /> with his concubine and his servant,<n id="2" /> his father-in-law, the girl&#8217;s father, said to him, &#8220;Look! The day is almost over!<n id="3" /> Stay another night! Since the day is over,<n id="4" /> stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.&#8221;<n id="5" />

<p class="bodytext">On every mission on which Saul sent him, David achieved success. So Saul appointed him over the men of war. This pleased not only all the army, but also Saul&#8217;s servants.<n id="1" />p>

But if my father intends to do you harm, may the <sc>Lordsc> do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don&#8217;t let you know<n id="1" /> and send word to you so you can go safely on your way.<n id="2" /> May the <sc>Lordsc> be with you, as he was with my father.

Your conscience will not be overwhelmed with guilt<n id="1" /> for having poured out innocent blood and for having taken matters into your own hands. When the <sc>Lordsc> has granted my lord success,<n id="2" /> please remember your servant.&#8221;p>

The king&#8217;s servants have even come to congratulate<n id="1" /> our master<n id="2" /> King David, saying, &#8216;May your God<n id="3" /> make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!&#8217;<n id="4" /> Then the king leaned<n id="5" /> on the bed

His wife Jezebel said to him, &#8220;You are the king of Israel!<n id="1" /> Get up, eat some food, and have a good time.<n id="2" /> I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.&#8221;p>

All the people of the land went and demolished<n id="1" /> the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols<n id="2" /> to bits.<n id="3" /> They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest<n id="4" /> then placed guards at the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

and said to the king, &#8220;If the king is so inclined<n id="1" /> and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.&#8221;

Then the king, with his consort<n id="1" /> sitting beside him, replied, &#8220;How long would your trip take, and when would you return?&#8221; Since the king was amenable to dispatching me,<n id="2" /> I gave him a time.

This young woman pleased him,<n id="1" /> and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen<n id="2" /> young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Haman&#8217;s<n id="1" /> wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, &#8220;Have a gallows seventy-five feet<n id="2" /> high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="bodytext">It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Rejoice, young man, while you are young,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.p> <p class="poetry">Follow the impulses<n id="2" /> of your heart and the desires<n id="3" /> of your eyes,p> <p class="poetry">but know that God will judge your motives and actions.<n id="4" />p>

I also explicitly commanded them:<n id="1" /> &#8220;Obey me. If you do, I<n id="2" /> will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you<n id="3" /> and things will go well with you.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.p> <p class="poetry">They cannot talk.p> <p class="poetry">They must be carriedp> <p class="poetry">because they cannot walk.p> <p class="poetry">Do not be afraid of themp> <p class="poetry">because they cannot hurt you.p> <p class="poetry">And they do not have any power to help you.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem<n id="1" /> this: The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you.<n id="2" /> So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing.<n id="3" /> Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.&#8217;<n id="4" />

Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety.<n id="1" /> &#8220;Do not be afraid to submit to the Babylonians.<n id="2" /> Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.