“ Enemies of Babylon, attack their land of Merathaim. Make war against those who live in Pekod. Chase them and kill them. Destroy them completely,” announces the Lord.“ Do everything I have commanded you to do.

耶和华说：“上去攻击米拉大翁之地，又攻击比割的居民。要追杀灭尽，照我一切所吩咐你的去行。

你要上去攻击米拉大翁之地，又攻击比割的居民。将他们追杀灭尽，照我所吩咐你的一切去做。这是耶和华说的。

你要上去攻击米拉大翁之地，又攻击比割的居民。将他们追杀灭尽，照我所吩咐你的一切去做。这是耶和华说的。

“你们要去攻打米拉大翁和比割的居民，照我的命令彻底消灭他们。这是耶和华说的。

“你们要攻击米拉大翁的地，上去攻击她，又攻击比割的居民，屠杀他们，把他们彻底消灭，照着我吩咐你们的一切执行。”这是耶和华的宣告。

耶和華說：上去攻擊米拉大翁之地，又攻擊比割的居民。要追殺滅盡，照我一切所吩咐你的去行。

你要上去攻擊米拉大翁之地，又攻擊比割的居民。將他們追殺滅盡，照我所吩咐你的一切去做。這是耶和華說的。

你要上去攻擊米拉大翁之地，又攻擊比割的居民。將他們追殺滅盡，照我所吩咐你的一切去做。這是耶和華說的。

你們要去攻打米拉大翁和比割的居民，照我的命令徹底消滅他們。這是耶和華說的。

“你們要攻擊米拉大翁的地，上去攻擊她，又攻擊比割的居民，屠殺他們，把他們徹底消滅，照著我吩咐你們的一切執行。”這是耶和華的宣告。

攻擊米拉太翁之地哦，你們要上陣攻擊它；攻擊比割的居民哦；擊殺他們餘留的人，將他們殺滅歸神，永恆主發神諭說，照我所吩咐你的一切話去行。

耶和華曰、上攻米拉大翁地、及北割居民、殺戮而盡滅之、循我所命而行、

耶和華又曰、違逆之邦、當降以罰、滅之務盡、循我所命。

主曰、當往攻背逆之邦、邦或作邑當罰其居民、殺戮毀滅淨盡、遵我所命爾者而行、

“ Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,” declares the Lord.“ Do everything I have commanded you.

“ Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill, and devote them to destruction, declares the Lord, and do all that I have commanded you.

“ Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of Pekod. Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you,” says the Lord.

Attack the land of Merathaim, and those living in Pekod. Put them to the sword; completely destroy them— this is the LORD’s declaration— do everything I have commanded you.

“ Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and completely destroy them,” declares the Lord,“ And do according to everything that I have commanded you.

“ Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,“ And do according to all that I have commanded you.

Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

“ Go against the land of Merathaim, and against those living in Pekod. Put them to the sword; completely destroy them— this is the Lord’s declaration— do everything I have commanded you.

Go up against the land of Merathaim,[ even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

The LORD says,“ Attack the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! Do just as I have commanded you!

“ Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them,” says Yahweh,“ and do according to all that I have commanded you.

They include the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans. They include the men from Pekod, Shoa and Koa. They also include all the Assyrians. They are young and handsome. Some of them are governors and commanders. Others are chariot officers. Still others are very high officials. All of them ride horses.

Now go. Attack the Amalekites. Completely destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare the Amalekites. Put the men and women to death. Put the children and babies to death. Also kill the cattle, sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”

A nation from the north will attack it. That nation will destroy Babylon. No one will live there. People and animals alike will run away.

I will stir up great nations that will join forces against Babylon. I will bring them from the land of the north. They will take up their battle positions against Babylon. They will come from the north and capture it. Their arrows will be like skilled soldiers. They will not miss their mark.

But I am going to give an order,” announces the Lord.“ I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it. They will capture it and burn it down. And I will completely destroy the towns of Judah. No one will be able to live there.”

I say about Cyrus,‘ He is my shepherd. He will accomplish everything I want him to. He will say about Jerusalem,“ Let it be rebuilt.” And he will say about the temple,“ Let its foundations be laid.” ’

Then David spoke to Abishai and all his officials. He said,“ My very own son Absalom is trying to kill me. How much more should this man from Benjamin want to kill me! Leave him alone. Let him curse. The Lord has told him to do it.

Shout against them on every side! They are giving up. The towers of the city are falling. Its walls are being pulled down. The Lord is paying back its people. So pay them back yourselves. Do to them what they have done to others.

“ I am very sad I have made Saul king. He has turned away from me. He has not done what I directed him to do.” When Samuel heard that, he was angry. He cried out to the Lord during that whole night.Early the next morning Samuel got up. He went to see Saul. But Samuel was told,“ Saul went to Carmel. There he set up a monument in his own honor. Now he has gone on down to Gilgal.”When Samuel got there, Saul said,“ May the Lord bless you. I’ve done what he directed me to do.”But Samuel said,“ Then why do I hear the baaing of sheep? Why do I hear the mooing of cattle?”Saul answered,“ The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They did it to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. But we totally destroyed everything else.”“ That’s enough!” Samuel said to Saul.“ Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”“ Tell me,” Saul replied.Samuel said,“ There was a time when you didn’t think you were important. But you became the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you to be king over Israel.He sent you to do something for him. He said,‘ Go and completely destroy the Amalekites. Go and destroy those evil people. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’Why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you keep for yourselves what you had taken from your enemies? Why did you do what is evil in the sight of the Lord?”“ But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said.“ I went to do what he sent me to do. I completely destroyed the Amalekites. I brought back Agag, their king.The soldiers took sheep and cattle from what had been taken from our enemies. They took the best of what had been set apart to God. They wanted to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”But Samuel replied,“ What pleases the Lord more? Burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying the Lord? It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice. It is better to do what he says than to offer the fat of rams.Refusing to obey the Lord is as sinful as using evil magic. Being proud is as evil as worshiping statues of gods. You have refused to do what the Lord told you to do. So he has refused to have you as king.”Then Saul said to Samuel,“ I have sinned. I’ve broken the Lord’ s command. I haven’t done what you directed me to do. I was afraid of the men. So I did what they said I should do.

“ People of Israel, come together and listen to me. What other god has said ahead of time that certain things would happen? I have chosen Cyrus. He will carry out my plans against Babylon. He will use his power against the Babylonians.

I will send them against the ungodly nation of Judah. I will order them to fight against my own people. My people make me angry. I will order Assyria to take their goods and carry them away. I will order Assyria to walk on my people as if they were walking on mud.

“ Cyrus, the king of Persia, says,“‘ The Lord is the God of heaven. He has given me all the kingdoms on earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem. And may the Lord their God be with them.’ ”

“ May anyone who is lazy when they do the Lord’ s work be under my curse! May anyone who keeps their sword from killing be under my curse!

Besides, do you think I’ve come without receiving a message from the Lord? Have I come to attack and destroy this place without a message from him? The Lord himself told me to march out against your country. He told me to destroy it.” ’ ”

Moses was angry with the officers of the army who had returned from the battle. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds.“ Have you let all the women remain alive?” Moses asked them.“ The women followed Balaam’s advice. They caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord. The people worshiped the god named Baal that was worshiped at Peor. So a plague struck them.Kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man.But save for yourselves every woman who has never slept with a man.