253 passages · Humanity
The whole world speaks one language. People settle in Shinar, make bricks, and decide to build a city and tower to make a name for themselves and avoid being scattered.
The Lord comes down, sees the project, and confuses their language. The people are scattered across the earth and stop building, and the place is named Babel.
The boys grow up very different, and each parent favors one. Famished, Esau trades his birthright to Jacob for a meal of lentil stew, and the text says he despised it.
Jacob prays, reminding God of His promises. He admits he is unworthy of God's kindness and asks to be delivered from Esau.
The story of Jacob's family now centers on Joseph, seventeen, who reports on his brothers. Jacob shows him favor with a special robe, and the brothers hate him.
Joseph is hurriedly cleaned up and brought to Pharaoh. He credits God, not himself, with any answer, and Pharaoh recounts both dreams.
Jacob kisses the boys and blesses them, crossing his hands so his right hand rests on the younger Ephraim. He prays that God, who has shepherded him, will bless them.
Moses and Aaron relay the LORD's demand that Israel be allowed to hold a feast in the wilderness. Pharaoh answers that he does not know the LORD and will not let them go.
Pharaoh asks Moses to pray to remove the frogs and promises to let Israel go. Moses prays and the frogs die, but when Pharaoh sees relief he hardens his heart.
Pharaoh offers to let Israel sacrifice within Egypt, then within a short distance in the wilderness. Moses insists on a three-day journey, prays, and the flies leave, but Pharaoh again refuses.
The LORD tells Moses to warn Pharaoh again that he could have destroyed Egypt but has raised him up to show his power. Hail is coming, and those who fear the LORD's word bring their servants and animals inside.
The LORD says he has hardened Pharaoh's heart so his signs may be told to future generations. Moses warns of locusts, Pharaoh's officials plead with him, and Pharaoh will allow only the men to go.
Miriam and Aaron criticize Moses over his Cushite wife and ask if the LORD speaks only through him. The narrator notes that Moses was very humble.
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, On and 250 leaders challenge Moses and Aaron, saying all the people are holy. Moses says the LORD will show whom He chooses and rebukes the Levites for seeking the priesthood.
Moses warns that in a land full of blessings they did not build, Israel must not forget the God who freed them. They should serve Him alone, avoid other gods, and not test Him as at Massah.
Moses tells Israel to remember how God led them forty years, humbling and testing them, feeding them manna so they would learn that people live by God's word. The good land ahead is described, and they are to bless God when they eat.
Moses warns that when Israel is prosperous they may grow proud and credit their own strength, forgetting God. He reminds them God gives the power to gain wealth and that forgetting Him will bring destruction.
Moses says Israel will soon cross the Jordan and face strong nations, but God will go ahead of them. He stresses that the land is given because of the nations' wickedness, not Israel's righteousness, since Israel is stubborn.
When Israel later wants a king, he must be one God chooses from among his fellow Israelites, and must not gather many horses, wives, or wealth. He is to copy the law and read it daily so he stays humble.
Jeshurun, another name for Israel, becomes prosperous and abandons God, turning to foreign gods and demons. The song accuses the people of forgetting the God who gave them birth.
The LORD tells Gideon he has too many men, so that Israel will not boast that its own hand saved it. Twenty-two thousand fearful men go home, and a test at the water leaves only three hundred.
Ephraim complains that Gideon did not call them to the fight against Midian. Gideon answers modestly that their capture of Oreb and Zeeb outdid his own efforts, and their anger subsides.
Ephraim complains that Jephthah did not call them to fight Ammon and threatens to burn his house. Jephthah says they did not answer his call, and fighting breaks out; the Gileadites seize the Jordan fords and identify Ephraimites by their pronunciation of 'Shibboleth', killing 42,000.
The song describes God overturning human situations: the mighty are broken, the hungry are fed, the barren bear children, and the poor are raised to honor. He rules life, death, poverty and wealth.
David's brother Eliab angrily accuses him of pride, but David keeps asking. Brought to Saul, David offers to fight Goliath, saying that the LORD who delivered him from a lion and a bear will deliver him from this Philistine.
Returning from battle, women sing that Saul has slain thousands and David tens of thousands. Saul is furious and begins to watch David with suspicion.
Nabal scornfully refuses, saying he does not know David and calling him a runaway servant. David tells his men to strap on swords, and about four hundred set out.
Saul's daughter Michal, who had despised David as she watched him, criticizes his behavior. David answers that he celebrated before the LORD who chose him over her father, and Michal has no children.
David responds humbly, praising God's greatness and his choice of Israel. He asks God to confirm the promise about his house so that God's name is honored forever.
David sends servants to console Hanun on his father's death, but Ammonite princes suspect spies. Hanun shaves half of each man's beard and cuts their garments, and David tells them to wait in Jericho.