The generation to come &#8211; your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places &#8211; will see<n id="1" /> the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the <sc>Lordsc> has brought on it.

<p class="bodytext">Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders left the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead and reported back to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.<n id="1" />

For the <sc>Lordsc> our God took us and our fathers out of slavery<n id="1" /> in the land of Egypt<n id="2" /> and performed these awesome miracles<n id="3" /> before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations.<n id="4" />

They abandoned the <sc>Lordsc> God of their ancestors<n id="1" /> who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods &#8211; the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped<n id="2" /> them and made the <sc>Lordsc> angry.

Everyone who saw the sight<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed during the entire time since<n id="2" /> the Israelites left the land of Egypt!<n id="3" /> Take careful note of it! Discuss it and speak!&#8221;p>

&#8220;At this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. You must consecrate<n id="1" /> him as a leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked with favor on my people. Their cry has reached me!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">So he took David<n id="1" /> down, and they found them spread out over the land. They were eating and drinking and enjoying themselves because of all the loot<n id="2" /> they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon&#8217;s reign over Israel, during the month Ziv<n id="1" /> (the second month), he began building the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb.<n id="1" /> It was there that<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Others will then answer,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Because they abandoned the <sc>Lordsc> their God, who led their ancestors<n id="2" /> out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.<n id="3" /> That is why the <sc>Lordsc> has brought all this disaster down on them.&#8217;&#8221;p>

After the king had consulted with his advisers,<n id="1" /> he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people,<n id="2" /> &#8220;It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">This happened because the Israelites sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of<n id="1" /> Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped<n id="2" /> other gods;

Instead you must worship the <sc>Lordsc>, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability;<n id="1" /> bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him.

Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, &#8220;What did these men say? Where do they come from?&#8221; Hezekiah replied, &#8220;They come from the distant land of Babylon.&#8221;

He told David,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live.<n id="2" /> Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation<n id="1" /> and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds;<n id="2" /> they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

Others will then answer,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Because they abandoned the <sc>Lordsc> God of their ancestors,<n id="2" /> who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.<n id="3" /> That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.&#8217;&#8221;p>

Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming!<n id="1" /> When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands.<n id="2" /> They bypassed them and did not destroy them.

Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, &#8220;What did these men say? Where do they come from?&#8221; Hezekiah replied, &#8220;They come from the distant land of Babylon.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">They did not ask:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Where is the <sc>Lordsc> who delivered us out of Egypt,p> <p class="poetry">who brought us through the wilderness,p> <p class="poetry">through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,p> <p class="poetry">through a land of drought and deep darkness,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">through a land in which no one travels,p> <p class="poetry">and where no one lives?&#8217;<n id="2" />p>