² So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but ^(A)of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them ^(B)in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.

¹⁷ They ^(A)zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.

² For I bear them witness ^(A)that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

^2 (A)They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming ^(B)that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

⁵⁴ And when His disciples ^(A)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, ^[a]just as ^(B)Elijah did?”

⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, ^[b]and said, “You do not know what manner of ^(C)spirit you are of.

³¹ But Jehu ^[a]took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from ^(A)the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.

¹⁶ Then he said, “Come with me, and see my ^(A)zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot.

^8 (A)He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and ^(B)utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people ^(C)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

⁴⁴ Saul answered, ^(A)“God do so and more also; ^(B)for you shall surely die, Jonathan.”

³ But when the inhabitants of ^(A)Gibeon ^(B)heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, ⁴ they worked craftily, and went and ^[a]pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and ^[b]mended, ⁵ old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. ⁶ And they went to Joshua, ^(C)to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a ^[c]covenant with us.”