247 passages · Humanity
The brothers report everything to Jacob and find all their silver in the sacks. Jacob, grieving Joseph and Simeon, refuses to let Benjamin go despite Reuben's offer.
Years later the king of Egypt dies, but Israel still groans under slavery. God hears their cry and remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Pharaoh stops supplying straw but demands the same brick quota, calling the Israelites lazy. The people scatter to gather stubble and the Israelite foremen are beaten for falling short.
The foremen appeal to Pharaoh, who calls them slackers and repeats the order. They then turn on Moses and Aaron, saying they have made Israel a stench to Pharaoh.
Israel's broken spirit keeps them from listening to Moses. The LORD sends him again to Pharaoh, Moses objects that he is unskilled in speech, and God charges Moses and Aaron to lead Israel out.
Israel arrives in the Desert of Sin and grumbles against Moses and Aaron, wishing they had died in Egypt where they ate their fill.
Moses is angry that the sin offering goat was burned, not eaten in the holy place. Aaron explains that after what happened to his sons that day, eating it seemed wrong, and Moses accepts this.
A person with the infectious disease wears torn clothes, lets his hair hang loose, covers his lower face, and calls out 'Unclean!' He lives alone outside the camp as long as the disease lasts.
In the first month, at Kadesh, Miriam dies. With no water, the people quarrel with Moses and Aaron, wishing they had died and complaining about the wilderness. The two leaders fall facedown at the Tent of Meeting.
Confusion, plague, disease, and drought will strike a disobedient Israel, and the sky will be bronze and the earth iron. They will be defeated before their enemies and left as an object of horror.
Boils, blindness, and confusion will come, and Israel will be plundered and oppressed. Homes, vineyards, animals, and children will be taken by others, and no one will help.
A distant nation with an unknown language will swoop down like an eagle and besiege Israel's cities. The famine will be so severe that people will resort to eating their own children.
The LORD will scatter Israel among the nations, where they will find no rest and live in constant dread. The chapter ends with a return to Egypt in ships to be sold as slaves.
The song describes the desolate days before Deborah, when roads were empty and villages had ceased because Israel chose new gods. It calls the people to recount the LORD's righteous acts at the watering places.
A famine drives Elimelech's family from Bethlehem to Moab. There Elimelech dies, and after about ten years both of Naomi's sons, who had married Moabite women, also die, leaving Naomi bereft.
The two women reach Bethlehem, and the townswomen are stirred at seeing Naomi. She asks to be called Mara, meaning bitter, saying the LORD has brought her back empty; they arrive as the barley harvest begins.
Peninnah provokes Hannah every year until she weeps and stops eating. Elkanah asks why she is so grieved and offers his own love as consolation.
David hides in the cave of Adullam, where his family and about four hundred distressed men join him. He leaves his parents with the king of Moab, and the prophet Gad tells him to go to Judah.
Saul collapses, weak from not eating. The woman urges him to eat, and after his servants press him, she prepares a calf and bread and they leave that night.
David and his men return to find Ziklag burned and their families taken. They weep until exhausted, and the men talk of stoning David, but he finds strength in the LORD.
Amnon, David's son, desires his half-sister Tamar. On his cousin Jonadab's advice he pretends to be ill, has Tamar brought to cook for him, and assaults her despite her plea.
Amnon turns to hatred and has Tamar thrown out. She mourns, Absalom takes her into his house and tells her to keep quiet, David is furious, and Absalom silently hates Amnon.
David climbs weeping, barefoot, and prays that Ahithophel's counsel will fail. He sends Hushai back to feign loyalty to Absalom and counter Ahithophel.
The victory turns to mourning as David grieves. Joab tells him he has shamed his soldiers and must speak encouragingly or lose them all, so David goes to sit in the gate.
Ahab reports everything to Jezebel, who vows to kill Elijah within a day. Elijah runs to Beersheba, leaves his servant, and sits under a broom tree praying to die.
God asks what Elijah is doing there, and Elijah says he alone remains faithful. God's presence is not in wind, earthquake, or fire but in a still, small voice, and Elijah repeats the same complaint.
Ben-hadad besieges Samaria and the famine is so severe that a woman describes an agreement to eat children. The king tears his clothes, blames Elisha, and sends a man to behead him.
Many families complain of famine, mortgaged fields, and high taxes. They are being forced to sell their children into slavery to fellow Jews, and they cannot redeem them.
On learning of the decree, Mordecai tears his clothes and wails in sackcloth and ashes, stopping at the king's gate. Jews in every province fast, weep, and lament.
On the day his children feast together, four messengers arrive in quick succession. Raiders and lightning take his livestock and servants, and a windstorm kills all his children.