² Because the power of Midian was so oppressive,^(A) the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves^(B) and strongholds.^(C)

⁶ When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid^(A) in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.^(B)

⁹ Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place.^(A) If he should attack your troops first,^[a] whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’

³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(A) and in holes in the ground.