So do this: Dismiss the kings from their command, and replace them with military commanders.

May he make us submissive, ¹  so we can follow all his instructions ²  and obey ³  the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of ¹  the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests.

and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. ¹  But he did not obey ²  the Lord’s command.

May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God ¹  by following ²  his rules and obeying ³  his commandments, as you are presently doing.” ⁴ 

Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; ¹  the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. ² 

During David’s campaign against Edom, ¹  Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom.

You must obey ¹  all I command you to do, follow my instructions, ²  do what I approve, ³  and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; ⁴  I will give you Israel.

and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You ¹  have rebelled against the Lord ²  and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you.

You must serve me with integrity and sincerity, just as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. ¹ 

May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; ¹  behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he ²  – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.

When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him.

Elijah ¹  replied, “I have not brought disaster ²  on Israel. But you and your father’s dynasty have, by abandoning the Lord’s commandments and following the Baals.

Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high-ranking officers; ¹  fight only the king of Israel.”

“As for this temple you are building, if you follow ¹  my rules, observe ²  my regulations, and obey all my commandments, ³  I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David. ⁴ 

I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules.

He did this ¹  because David had done what he approved ²  and had not disregarded any of his commandments ³  his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite.

He has sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon.

While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away ¹  and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave ²  so I can return to my homeland.”

While deployed there, the army received this report: ¹  “Zimri has conspired against the king and assassinated him.” ²  So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day in the camp.