176 passages · Salvation
Told that Tamar is pregnant, Judah orders her burned, but she produces his seal, cord, and staff. He says she is more righteous than he is, and she bears twins, Perez and Zerah.
Joseph softens the demand: one brother stays while the rest take grain home. The brothers, unaware he understands, admit guilt over Joseph; Joseph weeps and has Simeon bound.
Joseph has his silver cup hidden in Benjamin's sack, then sends his steward to accuse the brothers of theft. The brothers vow the thief should die, and the cup is found on Benjamin.
Judah recounts the family's history and Jacob's attachment to Benjamin, then offers to stay as a slave so the boy can go home. He cannot bear to see his father's grief.
Pharaoh admits he has sinned and asks for prayer. Moses ends the storm, but Pharaoh and his officials harden their hearts again.
Several offenses, such as failing to testify, touching something unclean, or swearing thoughtlessly, bring guilt even if unnoticed at first. The person must confess and bring a female lamb or goat as a sin offering.
This is to be kept yearly on the tenth day of the seventh month, as a day of rest and self-denial when atonement is made for the people. The high priest and his successors make atonement once a year.
The tenth day of the seventh month is a day of complete rest and self-humbling, when atonement is made for the people. Anyone who ignores it will be cut off from the people.
If the exiles confess their sins and humble themselves, God promises to remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and not to destroy them. The chapter closes by noting these are the laws given at Sinai.
A person who wrongs another must confess and repay in full plus a fifth. If no relative remains, the payment goes to the priest, along with a ram of atonement.
Impatient on the detour around Edom, the people complain against God and Moses. God sends venomous snakes, and after they confess, He has Moses make a bronze snake on a pole so that anyone who looks at it lives.
Moses warns that if Israel later makes idols, they will be scattered among the nations. If they seek God with all their heart from there, they will find Him, because He is merciful and will not forget His covenant.
Moses says that when Israel, scattered after curses, returns to the LORD with all their heart, he will bring them back, have compassion, and prosper them. God will circumcise their hearts so they love him.
The LORD raises up judges to rescue Israel and pities their groaning, but after each judge dies the people become even worse. So the LORD declares He will leave the remaining nations in the land to test whether Israel will keep His way.
Israel confesses its sin and cries out, but the LORD reminds them of past rescues and tells them to seek help from the gods they chose. They repent, remove the foreign gods, and the LORD can no longer bear their misery.
The ark stays at Kiriath-jearim for twenty years while Israel seeks the LORD in grief. Samuel calls them to put away foreign gods and serve only the LORD, and they do.
Samuel gathers Israel at Mizpah, where they pour out water, fast and confess that they have sinned against the LORD, and Samuel judges them there.
Samuel calls on the LORD to send thunder and rain during harvest as a sign of the people's wrong. They are terrified and ask him to pray for them.
Saul admits he feared the people and asks forgiveness, but Samuel says God has rejected him. When Samuel turns away, Saul tears his robe, and Samuel says the kingdom has been torn from him.
Saul weeps, admits David is more righteous, and says he knows David will be king. He asks David to swear not to wipe out his family, David agrees, and they go their separate ways.
Saul recognizes David's voice, and David asks why he is pursued. Saul admits his wrong and blesses David, though David returns the spear and they part.
Nathan says David is the man and lists what God gave him and what he took. He announces that the sword and trouble will come from David's own house; David admits he has sinned, and Nathan says David will live but the child will die.
Once the count is done, David's conscience troubles him and he confesses to the LORD. Through the prophet Gad, God offers famine, flight from enemies or plague, and David chooses to fall into God's hands.
Despite these events, Jeroboam keeps appointing priests for the high places. This becomes the sin that leads to his house's destruction.
The narrator notes Ahab's exceptional wickedness. When Ahab tears his clothes and fasts, God tells Elijah he will postpone the disaster until Ahab's son's days.
Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law in the temple, and Shaphan reads it to Josiah, who tears his clothes. He sends officials to ask the LORD about the words of the book.
The prophetess Huldah says the LORD will bring calamity on Jerusalem for its idolatry, but Josiah will die in peace before seeing it because he humbled himself.
King Josiah gathers the leaders and people at the temple and reads aloud the newly found Book of the Covenant. He then pledges before the LORD to follow its commands, and the people join him in the pledge.
God is displeased and strikes Israel, and David confesses he has sinned greatly. Through the seer Gad, the LORD offers David a choice of three years of famine, three months of defeat, or three days of plague, and David chooses to fall into the LORD's hand.
Gad tells David to build an altar on Ornan's threshing floor. David insists on paying full price, offers sacrifices, and God answers with fire from heaven, after which the angel puts away his sword.