As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him,“ Sir, I was in the thick of battle, and suddenly a man brought me a prisoner. He said,‘ Guard this man; if for any reason he gets away, you will either die or pay a fine of seventy five pounds of silver!’

王从那里经过，他向王呼叫说：“仆人在阵上的时候，有人带了一个人来，对我说：‘你看守这人，若把他失了，你的性命必代替他的性命；不然，你必交出一他连得银子来。’

王从那里经过，他向王呼叫说：“仆人出战的时候，看哪，有人转过来，带了一个人到我这里来，说：‘你要看守这人，若他真的失踪了，你的性命必代替他的性命，否则，你就要交出一他连得银子来。’

王从那里经过，他向王呼叫说：“仆人出战的时候，看哪，有人转过来，带了一个人到我这里来，说：‘你要看守这人，若他真的失踪了，你的性命必代替他的性命，否则，你就要交出一他连得银子来。’

亚哈王经过的时候，他向王喊道：“仆人在打仗的时候，有人押来一个俘虏，要我看管，他说如果俘虏跑掉，我就要以性命抵偿或赔偿三十四公斤银子。

王从那里经过的时候，他向王呼叫说：“你仆人出征，在战阵之中，忽然有一个人转过来，带了另一个人来见我，说：‘你看守这个人，他若是走失了，就要你替他偿命，否则你要支付三十公斤银子。’

王從那裏經過，他向王呼叫說：「僕人在陣上的時候，有人帶了一個人來，對我說：『你看守這人，若把他失了，你的性命必代替他的性命；不然，你必交出一他連得銀子來。』

王從那裏經過，他向王呼叫說：「僕人出戰的時候，看哪，有人轉過來，帶了一個人到我這裏來，說：『你要看守這人，若他真的失蹤了，你的性命必代替他的性命，否則，你就要交出一他連得銀子來。』

王從那裏經過，他向王呼叫說：「僕人出戰的時候，看哪，有人轉過來，帶了一個人到我這裏來，說：『你要看守這人，若他真的失蹤了，你的性命必代替他的性命，否則，你就要交出一他連得銀子來。』

亞哈王經過的時候，他向王喊道：「僕人在打仗的時候，有人押來一個俘虜，要我看管，他說如果俘虜跑掉，我就要以性命抵償或賠償三十四公斤銀子。

王從那裡經過的時候，他向王呼叫說：“你僕人出征，在戰陣之中，忽然有一個人轉過來，帶了另一個人來見我，說：‘你看守這個人，他若是走失了，就要你替他償命，否則你要支付三十公斤銀子。’

王從那裏經過，他向王哀叫說：『僕人出戰在戰陣之中、忽有人轉來，帶了一個人來交給我、說：「你看守這人；倘若遺失不見了，就要將你的性命去代替他的性命；不然，你就必須交出一擔銀子來。」

王過之、則呼曰、僕在陳時、有人執敵、轉詣我曰、爾守此人、如其失之、必以爾命代其命、或罰爾銀一他連得、

王過時、則呼曰、臣僕往戰、有人執其敵、命我守之、曰、如其不在、爾必償命、或罰金千有五百。

王過時、呼王曰、僕在陣時、有人攜一人至、謂我曰、爾守此人、如失之、爾必償其命、原文作爾命必代其命或罰爾銀一他連得、約銀一千二百三十兩

As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him,“ Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said,‘ Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.’

The king passed by. Then the prophet called out to him. He said,“ I went into the middle of the battle. Someone came to me with a prisoner. He said,‘ Guard this man. Don’t let him get away. If he does, you will pay for his life with yours. Or you can pay 75 pounds of silver.’

And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said,“ Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said,‘ Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’

As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and said,“ Your servant marched out into the middle of the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought someone to me and said,‘ Guard this man! If he is ever missing, it will be your life in place of his life, or you will weigh out seventy-five pounds of silver.’

And as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said,“ Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said,‘ Guard this man; if for any reason he goes missing, then your life shall be forfeited in place of his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’

Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said,“ Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said,‘ Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’

And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king; and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and said,“ Your servant marched out into the middle of the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought someone to me and said,‘ Guard this man! If he is ever missing, it will be your life in place of his life, or you will weigh out 75 pounds of silver.’

And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

When the king passed by, he called out to the king,“ Your servant went out into the heat of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. He told me,‘ Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, you will pay with your life or with a talent of silver.’

As the king passed by, he cried to the king; and he said,“ Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and behold, a man came over, and brought a man to me, and said,‘ Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’

So they were all inside the temple to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty of his men outside the building and had warned them,“ If you let anyone escape, you will pay for it with your own life.”

But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth. Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin.

Then Jesus began teaching them with stories:“ A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop.But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty handed.The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head.The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed,until there was only one left— his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking,‘ Surely they will respect my son.’“ But the tenant farmers said to one another,‘ Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.“ What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked.“ I’ll tell you— he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?‘ The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’”The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them— they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story:“ There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor.The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle.The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”David was furious.“ As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed,“ any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”Then Nathan said to David,“ You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.

He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.

However, the dead person’s relatives may accept payment to compensate for the loss of life. The owner of the ox may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.

Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God.

“ What’s the trouble?” the king asked.“ Alas, I am a widow!” she replied.“ My husband is dead.My two sons had a fight out in the field. And since no one was there to stop it, one of them was killed.Now the rest of the family is demanding,‘ Let us have your son. We will execute him for murdering his brother. He doesn’t deserve to inherit his family’s property.’ They want to extinguish the only coal I have left, and my husband’s name and family will disappear from the face of the earth.”

When Jotham heard about this, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted,“ Listen to me, citizens of Shechem! Listen to me if you want God to listen to you!Once upon a time the trees decided to choose a king. First they said to the olive tree,‘ Be our king!’But the olive tree refused, saying,‘ Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’“ Then they said to the fig tree,‘ You be our king!’But the fig tree also refused, saying,‘ Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?’“ Then they said to the grapevine,‘ You be our king!’But the grapevine also refused, saying,‘ Should I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’“ Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said,‘ Come, you be our king!’And the thornbush replied to the trees,‘ If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade. If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’”Jotham continued,“ Now make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelech your king, and that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Have you treated him with the honor he deserves for all he accomplished?For he fought for you and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites.But today you have revolted against my father and his descendants, killing his seventy sons on one stone. And you have chosen his slave woman’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative.“ If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants today, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth millo; and may fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth millo and devour Abimelech!”

The prophet said to him,“ This is what the Lord says: Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed, now you must die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people.”

The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.